How To Easily Make Alice in Wonderland Card Soldiers

Are you planning an Alice in Wonderland party?  You’ll want some decorations.  These Alice in Wonderland card soldiers are so cute and easy for you to make!  

My plan to make these at first was to paint the cards on foam board.  Then, I saw over-sized cards at Amazon!  These cards measure 10.5″ x 14.5″.  They are the perfect size for the dollar store foam board.  You have enough room to draw a head, arms, and feet.

 

You won’t need all of the cards for soldiers.  With the leftover cards, add a few to your tablescape.  Punch holes in the top of the cards, and, or the bottoms, and create a hanging garland.  Use ribbon or string to hang.

Alice in Wonderland Card Soldiers

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Supplies:

•  Super Jumbo Playing Cards
• White Foam boards
• Flesh acrylic craft paint
• Fire Red acrylic craft paint
• Charcoal acrylic craft paint
• 1/4-inch wood dowels
• Tacky glue
• Small Zip Ties
• Scissors
• Paintbrushes
• 12-inch wooden skewers

Directions:

Pinterest has lots of ideas for these soldier cards.  This 25-inch-tall version is inspired by an Alice in Wonderland card soldier clipart ► pin on Pinterest.

First, lay the foam board on a hard surface.  Take one of the super jumbo playing cards and position it on top of the foam board.  The foam board here is 20″ x 30″.   First, figure out how many inches you need on each side, top, and bottom for adding the feet, arms, and head.  You can see the measurements for this card soldier in the picture above.

Trace around the card with a pencil.  Then, draw the arms and legs.

The soldier’s Head and Face

To make the head and face, I cut hearts from construction paper and made templates.  ◄ You can download the templates here.  Cut them out of cardstock and it’s easy to trace around them.

Then, measure and center the largest heart template at the top, overlapping the pencil edge of the card.  Use the pictures to position the other heart templates on the face and trace around them.

The epaulets can be positioned on the shoulders with the points facing outward or inward.  It’s your choice.

Paint the Card Soldier

To paint on this type of foam board, you will want to use very little water with the paint!  Dampen your brush with water and dab off on a paper towel before starting to pick up the paint.  Then, only use a touch of water if necessary.

Paint a base coat of fire red over the gloves, shoes, and the outer edges of the large heart.  Then, mix a little of the charcoal paint with the fire red to add dimension along the edge and give definition to the gloves and shoes.

Cut Out the Card Soldier

Use an X-Acto knife to cut out the card soldier.  Line a metal ruler up alongside the straight edges of the card and slice through the foam board when possible.  Then, cut around the feet, arms, and hands.

The knife blades dull quickly cutting this foam.  Instead of going through a bunch of new blades, I sharpen the blades with a knife sharpener.  Even at that, the blades just didn't seem to be that sharp.  I spotted the sharpening steel in the knife block and tried it on the blade.  Perfect!  Try your sharpening steel!

As I was cutting the soldier out, I noticed that some of the paper edges were lifting.  I didn't really want to cut the cards.  That gave me the idea to cut along the bottom edge of the heart face, just cutting through the top layer.  Don't worry about any of the paper that lifts along the edges, just use a little Tacky Glue to adhere it to the foam.

Slice just through the top layer of paper at the bottom of the heart.  Use the blade of the knife to gingerly release it from the foam board.  Release just enough for the card to slip under the heart and line up with the shoulder line. 

Use the same process to lift the edges at the top of each shoe.  Use Tacky Glue to adhere the card to the foam board.  Be sure to slip the card under the raised edges of the face heart and the shoes.

The Backside of the Soldier

On the backside, I first cut through the top layer and then, painted the bottom edge of the heart.  The paper wasn’t releasing as easily.  After the paint had dried, I used the paintbrush to lay a little water along the cut line.  It started lifting and came up easily then.

Position the top of the card under the raised edge.  Glue the card to the back with the backside of the card facing upward.  Then, glue the loose flap of paper at the base of the heart head over the top of the card.

Another option here would be to paint the face on a separate sheet of paper and then, glue the paper face over the foam board.  Yes, this would probably be easier! I started painting the face before thinking this out clearly... 

Making the Soldier Lance

First, paint the wooden dowel with the fire-red acrylic paint.  Then, using the face heart template, cut 2 hearts from red cardstock.  Glue the middle of the hearts to the end of the dowel.  Then, glue the outside edges together.

Download the pattern and print out the lance hand guard template.  From the same red cardstock, cut out the lance guard using this template. Cut the red lines at the tip indicated.  Fold on the dashed lines.  Bend the cut tabs inward on the narrow end.

Glue the tabs on the narrow end to the wooden dowel first.  If necessary, cut the tabs a little deeper to accommodate the diameter of the dowel.

Glue the Guard

Figure out where the handguard needs to be positioned on the lance.  You want it between the hand and the foot.  I positioned the base of the handguard 6 inches from the end of the dowel. 

First, apply glue to the tabs on the narrow end and wrap them around the wooden dowel.  You may have to hold the glued tabs for a minute until the glue takes hold.  It won’t take long.  Then, glue the tab on the long side.

Fold two of the flaps on opposite sides to the center.   Add glue to the remaining flaps, fold down, and glue onto the folded flaps.

Zip Tie Lance to The Hand and Foot

Use small zip ties to attach the dowel to the hand and foot.  First, position the lance where you want it right over the thumb.  Then, use the tip of the X-Acto blade to make a small slice through the foamboard on each side of the dowel.  Thread the zip-tie from the backside to the front, over the dowel, and then, back through the foam board.  Secure the zip-tie and trim off the excess.  

Line up the dowel on the foot.  You can measure from the edge of the card to the edge of the dowel where it is secured on the hand.  Then, use the measurement to line up the dowel just above the foot.

Wooden Skewers to Create Freestanding Card Soldiers

As I was putting these soldiers together, a plan to use some wire off of a graduation sign we have.  That would only take care of one of the soldiers.  So, after brainstorming, the idea of using 12-inch wooden skewers came to mind.  The pointed tips came in handy for carefully pushing the skewers into the foam about 4 inches.  

Ultimately, two skewers, one next to each foot, along with the wooden dowel kept them freestanding.  We ended up pulling the skewer out of the foamboard, switching ends, and reinserting the skewer.  The pointed end then went into the dirt more easily.

In retrospect, it would make the skewers less conspicuous if they were painted black.  It’s something you might consider!

Be aware that if it’s a windy day, you might have to come up with another option!

 

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