Introduction: How to Make Minions!
Have you ever wanted your very own Minion like the ones from the movie "Despicable Me"? Well now you can! This instructable will show you how to make the minions shown in the pictures above; as well as give you tips, and ideas to customize your own.
Step 1: Materials and Tools
The materials and tools needed to make a minion will vary greatly depending on what is available, and how you decide to personalize/customize it.
To make the minions in the overalls, you will need the following:
-large Kinder Surprise Egg (Any size egg will work, but the larger eggs are easier to work with)
-1 or 2 plastic or metal bottle caps
-Scissors/knife
Seam ripper for making holes in the yellow capsule(A hammer and nail could be used instead of a seam ripper, but I found that the seam ripper worked really well)
-Needle nose Pliers
-Wire
-Glue Gun with glue sticks
-Paint palate
-Paint Brush
-Permanent Markers, Pencils and Pencil Crayons with Pencil Sharpener
-Acrylic paint-Silver/grey for goggles; For the eyes: white, black, and another colour for the iris
-Clear nail polish
-Scrap Fabric for overalls, and band for goggles
-Thread and needle, and possibly a thinmble (especially if you do not have pliers)
-Thick thread, embroidery floss, or wool/yarn
- large needles (Be prepared to break a couple of the needles.Do not use important/expensive needles, and if/when they break, dispose of them properly so that no one hurts themselves.)
-Something to fill your minion with to add weight- beads, (1/2 cup of perler beads worked well), sand, small rocks, other minions...*** etc.
-Scott towels/newspaper or whatever is available to prevent a mess
***See Step 7 .
To make the minions in the overalls, you will need the following:
-large Kinder Surprise Egg (Any size egg will work, but the larger eggs are easier to work with)
-1 or 2 plastic or metal bottle caps
-Scissors/knife
Seam ripper for making holes in the yellow capsule(A hammer and nail could be used instead of a seam ripper, but I found that the seam ripper worked really well)
-Needle nose Pliers
-Wire
-Glue Gun with glue sticks
-Paint palate
-Paint Brush
-Permanent Markers, Pencils and Pencil Crayons with Pencil Sharpener
-Acrylic paint-Silver/grey for goggles; For the eyes: white, black, and another colour for the iris
-Clear nail polish
-Scrap Fabric for overalls, and band for goggles
-Thread and needle, and possibly a thinmble (especially if you do not have pliers)
-Thick thread, embroidery floss, or wool/yarn
- large needles (Be prepared to break a couple of the needles.Do not use important/expensive needles, and if/when they break, dispose of them properly so that no one hurts themselves.)
-Something to fill your minion with to add weight- beads, (1/2 cup of perler beads worked well), sand, small rocks, other minions...*** etc.
-Scott towels/newspaper or whatever is available to prevent a mess
***See Step 7 .
Step 2: Preparing
The first and most delicious step of this project is to free the yellow capsule from its chocolate tomb.
This involves unwrapping and eating the chocolate egg; and removing the toy within.
Once the capsule is free, wash it with warm soapy water to ensure all chocolate residue is removed. (If the capsule still smells like chocolate even after washing it, fill it with baking soda and let it sit for a while)
Once dry, fill the capsule with whatever is available (beads, sand, small stones, etc) to add some weight to it. Doing this now will make it easier to make the clothes in the next step.
This involves unwrapping and eating the chocolate egg; and removing the toy within.
Once the capsule is free, wash it with warm soapy water to ensure all chocolate residue is removed. (If the capsule still smells like chocolate even after washing it, fill it with baking soda and let it sit for a while)
Once dry, fill the capsule with whatever is available (beads, sand, small stones, etc) to add some weight to it. Doing this now will make it easier to make the clothes in the next step.
Step 3: Clothes
Now to outfit your minions with clothes. Most of the minions in this instructable were clothed in overalls to resemble the minions in the movie, but you can dress them however you see fit.
For overalls, scraps from hemming pants is a great way to reuse what would otherwise be thrown away. Also, this provides you with an already finished edge, so you don't have to finish it yourself. Corduroy scraps make especially realistic looking overalls.
Take your fabric and sew down the rough edge to finish it. Then wrap it around the capsule with the "good side" facing out. Cut the fabric so that the two side edges meet, and the bottom edge extends past the bottom of the capsule by a couple of inches. Sew the two side edges together to produce a tube that the capsule fits in. Once you are pleased with the placement of the fabric, flip the capsule over so that you can work on the bottom. If you have something in the capsule, it should be able to stand on its own, which might make it easier to sew up the bottom.
To sew up the bottom, take one side of the fabric tube, and fold it over the other. Once sewn, it should leave you with two pointed corners. Take them and fold them together towards the center and sew them in place.
If you want to add straps, take small strips of the scrap fabric, and sew them on the inner part of the finished edge. You may want to attach the straps after making the arms, so you know where to place them.
Decorations, such as buttons and pockets should be done after the main piece is complete, with the capsule removed.
For overalls, scraps from hemming pants is a great way to reuse what would otherwise be thrown away. Also, this provides you with an already finished edge, so you don't have to finish it yourself. Corduroy scraps make especially realistic looking overalls.
Take your fabric and sew down the rough edge to finish it. Then wrap it around the capsule with the "good side" facing out. Cut the fabric so that the two side edges meet, and the bottom edge extends past the bottom of the capsule by a couple of inches. Sew the two side edges together to produce a tube that the capsule fits in. Once you are pleased with the placement of the fabric, flip the capsule over so that you can work on the bottom. If you have something in the capsule, it should be able to stand on its own, which might make it easier to sew up the bottom.
To sew up the bottom, take one side of the fabric tube, and fold it over the other. Once sewn, it should leave you with two pointed corners. Take them and fold them together towards the center and sew them in place.
If you want to add straps, take small strips of the scrap fabric, and sew them on the inner part of the finished edge. You may want to attach the straps after making the arms, so you know where to place them.
Decorations, such as buttons and pockets should be done after the main piece is complete, with the capsule removed.
Step 4: Arms
The composition and construction of the arms of your minion will depend on its intended use. The minions in the pictures were first intended as note holders, so the arms were made out wire***. If you intend to use your minion as purely decorative purposes, you may want to use clay, or some other formable material.
For wire arms, just take a length of thin wire, and bend it in half. Then, using pliers if needed, form a rough "hand" shape. Once you are satisfied, bring the two ends and twist the wire together leaving about half an inch untwisted at the ends. Use a sharp pointed tool to poke a hole into capsule just above where the clothes start, then insert two ends into the hole and separate them. To prevent the arms from moving or twisting in the hole,cover the separated wire ends with hot glue. If you attach the arms where the two capsule halves, meet, you will not be able to open your minion. Make sure to add the arms after any work that requires accessing the inside, or place the arms away from where the halves meet.***
***Important for step 7...
For wire arms, just take a length of thin wire, and bend it in half. Then, using pliers if needed, form a rough "hand" shape. Once you are satisfied, bring the two ends and twist the wire together leaving about half an inch untwisted at the ends. Use a sharp pointed tool to poke a hole into capsule just above where the clothes start, then insert two ends into the hole and separate them. To prevent the arms from moving or twisting in the hole,cover the separated wire ends with hot glue. If you attach the arms where the two capsule halves, meet, you will not be able to open your minion. Make sure to add the arms after any work that requires accessing the inside, or place the arms away from where the halves meet.***
***Important for step 7...
Step 5: Hair
For the minion in the brown overalls, the hair was composed of thin wire.
Holes were made in the smaller half of the capsule with a seam ripper. Then small pieces of wire were cut, threaded through the holes, and bent to keep them from sliding out.
The minion in the blue overalls had more realistic hair made from yarn. Just like the other minion, poke holes in the smaller half of the capsule using a seam ripper. Take a strand of yarn and thread it into a large needle. Starting on the outside of the capsule insert the needle into one of the holes and pull it through using pliers. Then pull the needle and yarn out again through a nearby hole. Pull the yarn until the first end is the right length, and then cut the yarn on your end to match its length. Alternatively, instead of cutting the yarn after each time you pull the yarn through, leave the yarn in large loops, then cut them all at the end. Either way, continue adding hair until you are satisfied with how it looks.
Step 6: Eyes/Goggles
The eyes/goggles are made out of metal or plastic bottle caps.
The minion in the brown overalls had eyes made from white plastic bottle caps. The edge of the cap was coloured silver with a wooden graphite pencil to make the goggle. To do this, take a sharp knife and carefully run it over the graphite tip to create a pile of graphite powder. Then take your finger and rub in the powder, then on the cap. The powder should stick nicely on the cap. You could also do this with a pencil sharpener, but you will get shavings rather than powder; which might not transfer as well. The iris was coloured in with brown pencil crayon, and the pupil was drawn in with a permanent marker. Then being careful not to smudge anything, the eye was sealed by painting them over with clear nail polish.
The minion in the blue overalls had 2 eyes made from metal bottle caps that were painted with acrylic paint, and sealed, again with clear nail polish. Make sure that the paint is completely dry before applying the nail polish, or the paint will smudge.
To make the band for the goggles, use a small strip of dark material. You could fold it and sew the rough edges if you want a cleaner look, or you could leave it as is. Glue the strip to the upper half of the yellow capsule, and then position and glue the eyes on top.
Step 7: MORE MINIONS!?!
If one minion is not enough, why stop?
This step will show you how to modify the previous steps to create a set of nesting minions.
The materials are mostly the same, except that you need three different sizes of Kinder Surprise eggs. The regular 20g eggs can be found in most Canadian grocerie/corner stores, and pharmacies. The larger 100g egg, and the Kinder Surprise Maxi, which is 150g, may be harder to find. They are usually sold during during certain holidays such as Christmas and Easter. I found both the 100g, and the Maxi eggs at a pharmacy during the Christmas season. If anyone knows more about where or when to get kinder surprise eggs please comment.
Make your minions as described on the previous page, but make sure they can still be opened. Especially pay attention when putting in the arms of your minions. I put the arms in where the two capsule halves meet, so in order to open them up to make nesting minions, I had to cut the the upper half of the capsule around the arm, as shown in the third picture.
For the female minion, I used orange yarn for the hair, buttons for eyes, scrap fabric to make a dress, and thinner wire to make the arms more easily bendable. The dress was made the same way the overalls were made for the previous minions, with the adddition of a pleated skirt part that was sewn on.
For the baby minion, I used embroidery floss for the hair, slices of glue stick for goggles, black yarn instead of fabric for the band for the goggles, and thin wire for arms.
Each minion has perler beads in them so that they can stand on their own
Once each minion is made, open them up and place them inside of each other.
This step will show you how to modify the previous steps to create a set of nesting minions.
The materials are mostly the same, except that you need three different sizes of Kinder Surprise eggs. The regular 20g eggs can be found in most Canadian grocerie/corner stores, and pharmacies. The larger 100g egg, and the Kinder Surprise Maxi, which is 150g, may be harder to find. They are usually sold during during certain holidays such as Christmas and Easter. I found both the 100g, and the Maxi eggs at a pharmacy during the Christmas season. If anyone knows more about where or when to get kinder surprise eggs please comment.
Make your minions as described on the previous page, but make sure they can still be opened. Especially pay attention when putting in the arms of your minions. I put the arms in where the two capsule halves meet, so in order to open them up to make nesting minions, I had to cut the the upper half of the capsule around the arm, as shown in the third picture.
For the female minion, I used orange yarn for the hair, buttons for eyes, scrap fabric to make a dress, and thinner wire to make the arms more easily bendable. The dress was made the same way the overalls were made for the previous minions, with the adddition of a pleated skirt part that was sewn on.
For the baby minion, I used embroidery floss for the hair, slices of glue stick for goggles, black yarn instead of fabric for the band for the goggles, and thin wire for arms.
Each minion has perler beads in them so that they can stand on their own
Once each minion is made, open them up and place them inside of each other.