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Build Your Own Cardboard Castle

September 14, 2009 By Michelle Barneck 9 Comments

The other day we went to visit daddy at work we came home with this computer box, courtesy of his co-worker Rex. My little guy had so much fun playing with it at the office that I knew it could be great fun.

I took one look at those gray pieces of packaging foam and immediately thought castle. They were perfect for little doors. I pulled out my dollar store duct tape and went to work!


At this point we had a pretty cool little fort, but every castle needs a tower so I grabbed one of our diaper boxes from Costco. I sliced off the top four inches or so and put it on top. Then, I grabbed a box cutter and sliced a hole to match. I secured it on with duct tape on the inside and outside.

The tower needed a little flair so I went around and made rectangle cut outs every few inches. I decided to tape the back flap to the side two, but leave the front one free so he could spy through the hole or push it down completely. I had some concerns about potential cardboard cuts (those suckers are nasty!) so I duct taped around all of the exposed edges.

Then, I decided the duct tape looked cool, so I taped the whole tower. This took longer than you would think. You could also spray paint it. I liked the look at this point, but was worried about the structural integrity of the foam doors, especially in the middle where my son grabbed them to shut them.

I cut a little piece of cardboard (about 1.5″ x 15 “) and taped it inside of the doors by where they close to reinforce where they would constantly be handled. By this time, I had emptied about a roll and a half of tape and just had to find a use for the emptied rolls. Enter door handles. These have since been ripped off, but they looked cool for couple days they lasted.

What a great little place for my little prince! We love our cardboard castle! Tonight we were using the handle holes as mail slots and he would stick cards (we got in a kids meal) through them then go inside to get his “mail.”

Total cost: $2 for duct tape
Boxes on hand
Box cutter on hand

Linking up with Trash to Treasure Tues on Reinvented and

on Naps on the Porch.

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Filed Under: Kid Friendly, Tutorials

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Comments

  1. Mike says

    September 15, 2009 at 11:09 am

    Give a kid the best gift money could buy—and they’d rather play with the box that came with it.

    Mike
    http://www.mikeleonen.com

    Twitter: AboutParenting

    Reply
  2. myrepurposedlife.blogspot.com says

    September 16, 2009 at 8:39 am

    great creativity! Cute little boy! Lucky him!
    gail

    Reply
  3. JobandBrittany says

    September 16, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    so cute! kids usually love this stuff better than store bought toys!

    i’m having a goodwill party today & every Wednesday, stop by and link up!

    Reply
  4. Kimm at Reinvented says

    September 16, 2009 at 7:00 pm

    That is a toddler’s paradise! So cool, you’re one creative mommy. Thanks for linking up to Trash to Treasure Tuesday!

    Reply
  5. Molly says

    September 17, 2009 at 9:56 pm

    Okay, that is super impressive! Nice job!
    Why are boxes always so much fun?!

    Reply
  6. Heather - CROQZine.com - Dollarstorecrafts.com says

    October 18, 2009 at 4:44 pm

    How fun! My sons would LOVE that!! I made them “cars” out of cardboard diaper boxes (I was 9 months pregnant, so that just involved drawing a dash panel/steering wheel on one of the small flaps, and cutting a keyhole. I also cut a door for the gas tank in one side so they could gas it up… ha ha! 🙂 I had much grander hopes for that project, but I had about 1% crafting energy so I just did what I could…

    This is so cool. I love the doors!!

    Reply
  7. Heather - CROQZine.com - Dollarstorecrafts.com says

    October 18, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    This one is going to be included in a post in November on Dollar Store Crafts, by the way! (Nov 8)

    Reply
  8. Jenn @ Delicious Ambiguity says

    April 15, 2010 at 11:28 pm

    Love your blog.This is brilliant. My toddler would go crazy for it. I host Tot Tuesdays every week and would love it if you would stop by and link up. I’m also hosting a giveaway at the moment you might be interested in. Have a great week!

    http://delicious-ambiguity-nennyk.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  9. Sheree says

    September 27, 2014 at 8:26 am

    This design is spectacular! You definitely know how to keep a reader amused.
    Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well,
    almost…HaHa!) Wonderful job. I really enjoyed what you had to say,
    and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!

    Reply

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Hi there! I'm Michelle. Mother of three little boys and one little princess. Welcome to A Little Tipsy, a place for exploring creativity and sharing inspiration.

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