Cardboard Barn

We made this Farm out of a big cardboard box and 2 small boxes broken down for the roof. I didn't take any pictures of us making it but here is a breakdown if you want to make your own.

1- Take your big box and paint it red (We painted it after we tapped it and it didn't work as well)

2- Tape the bottom and top flaps so they stick up (This makes it taller)

3- Now you are going to break down two smaller boxes and form the roof

~This was difficult but we found if we used the flaps of the smaller boxes for the base of the roof it was easier...i would just do what works for you. (We put a towel over the cardboard loft to make it look like hay instead of cardboard, we also made it so we could take the loft off and the kids could stand if they wanted.)

4- Cut a door in the big box (We added handles with string too)

5- Add white paper to the top of the barn to look like shingles and on the door to help it look more like a barn.

6- We topped off the barn by adding a sign with leftover cardboard and string (You can secure the sign by poking a little hole in the box and threading the string through it and then tying a knot on the inside of the barn...we did the same thing for the barn handles)

Our Cardboard Barn

My little guy loved putting all of his farm animals in the loft and parking his John Deere Tractors in the bottom. We had a few more white cardboard boxes and so we made a fence to go around the barn too!

Cardboard Tractor Tutorial!

WANT TO MAKE THIS?

You will Need:
3 cardboard boxes
-rectangular box for the body
-square shaped box for the cab
-Large box to cut out the tractor tires
2 cans of colored spray paint (we did green)
1 can of Black Spray Paint for the Tires, Headlights, & Pipes
Spray Paint Nozzle (Optional)
1 bottle of bright yellow craft paint
paint brush
1 Empty Hot Coco can
2 Hot coco Lids
1 Empty Oatmeal container
1 tall skinny container (we used a leftover Christmas tin)
Duct Tape, Scissors, box cutter (razor blade), Permanent Marker
Glue gun and sticks (optional)
Step 1:  Tape the rectangular box together.  Tape  the square box together. Depending on the size of your boxes you may need to cut off the bottom flaps. In this example we taped the bottom flaps open because the box is not very deep. You will want the sides and top sealed and the bottom of the boxes open.

Step 2:  Cut the openings into the cardboard boxes.  You will need to cut 3 windows into the square box, don’t cut too close to the edge because you will want the frame to be thick enough so it’s sturdy.

Put the square box on top of the rectangular box where you want the cab to be, trace the outline of the square box onto the lower rectangular box.  This will be a guide as to where you will need to cut.  Remove the top box and cut an opening out at least an inch in from the line you just traced.  You will want the upper box to have some support, a place for the square box to sit.  Look at the pictures for clarification.  We cut on the dotted line to make our opening.

We are cutting an inch in from the traced line.


Step 3:  Get the hot coco can,  oatmeal container, and tall skinny tin or container gathered.  Cut the hot coco container in half with scissors…these will be the headlights.  Now it’s time to spray paint….we did these black. Set aside and let dry.

Step 4:  Don’t put the black spray paint away yet….we need to make the wheels and spray paint those black as well.  Lay out your cardboard and trace and cut 4 tires.  We used a plate to trace smaller circles for the front wheels.  The Back wheels we free handed.  They are Big!!!  I couldn’t find any thing big enough to use as a pattern. Spray paint black and set aside to dry.  Now you are done with the black spray paint…it should be about empty.  (Yours wont have the yellow on them yet)

Step 5:  Grab your colored spray paint and go to town spraying the body and cab!  Okay this would be a good time to tell you that if you are cheap like me and get the Wal-Mart .98 cent spray paint then your hand is going to hurt (My wrist is still sore).  It won’t be long before you are using your thumb and different fingers to get the paint out…..next time I’ll invest the $2 dollars for the spray paint nozzle (found at Wal-Mart next to the cheap spray paint).  Another side note… I thought this would go quick…but not so much.  The color doesn’t show up to well on the the brown so be patient and don’t expect perfection. This is just for fun and your child won’t mind! ; )  Or if you are more of a perfectionist then try using white boxes from the get go or let your child color the tractor!

Step 6:  By now your tractor tires should be dry.  Paint the yellow onto the tires and headlights.  Pour the yellow craft  paint into the hot coco lids, I used  these to hold the paint while I painted the tires.  Paint a yellow circle on the tires and then finish off painting the front of the hot coco lids.  Let Dry.

Step 7:  Duct tape the boxes together.  We taped them from the inside so you can’t see any of the tape holding the two boxes together.
Step 8:  Cut openings for the headlights and pipes.  (We traced with marker and then cut about an 1/8 inch in from the marking.  Or hot glue or duct tape the pipes and headlights on.
 
Step 9:  When the tires and headlight are dry, duct tape or hot glue the tires on and put the lids on the hot coco cans.

Step 10:  Go have fun with you new tractor!

Why is a simple box so much fun?

I don't know why, but sometimes the simplest things are a child's favorite.  This single cardboard box entertained this little man for over an hour.  We put his farm animals in with him and he enjoyed pretend playing with them, me and my hubby.  So simple and so fun!

Cardboard Mater Tutorial

Are you Mater fans?  We absolutely love Mater around here! My little boy has started taking like Mater and loves to quote him and I am afraid it has rubbed off on me too.

We used some leftover cardboard boxes from Christmas to make this Cardboard Mater. My kiddos LOVE it and especially had a fun time putting it together! The kids got the new Cars 2 movie for Christmas and loved watching it while playing with "their" mater! We ended up watching both Cars and Cars 2 with their new Mater.

I put together this little tutorial...in case you want to make a Mater! Let me know if you have any questions.

A little side note: I buy most of my diapers over Amazon. They are cheaper then what I can buy them for at Sams and delivered right to my house. We love using the boxes for things like this too:) I buy my diapers through the Subscribe and Save program and get free shipping through Amazon Prime if you are interested you can read more about it here.

I didn't use any paint or markers when making this Mater...mostly because I wanted to keep things simple and I always hate it when the markers come off on my kids clothes/hands while they are playing, plus mater is mostly brown. I just pulled off the outer layer of cardboard to get ride of logos on the box.

Supplies Needed:

scissors/utility blade

1 big cardboard box

1 medium cardboard box

1 piece of black paper

1 foam board (or a couple pieces of white paper)

6 paper plates

black sharpie/marker

1 tin...I used a Stevens hot chocolate tin (for Maters head lights)

Glue Gun

If you want to make your steering wheel spin you will also need:

1 toothpick

1 milk jug/juice lid

Take your bigger box and cut it like the one pictured below. I cut the front flap off and then cut into the side flaps. Use the front flap for the windshield. (Use the picture as your guide)

Tape everything together and fold the back flap out.

With your smaller box you are going to tape the flaps up and then cut into them a bit. If your box is longer in length you  may want to cut it in half.

Next, tape the 2 boxes together putting the back flap from the bigger box over the front of the smaller box for added support.

My little boy really wanted a steering wheel that spinned so:

1- We glued 2 paper plates together and poked holes through the center (You could really use 1 paper plate but we wanted the 3D effect.)

2- I then took a tooth pick and covered it in glue (from hot glue gun and poked it though the box and allowed it to dry. (It doesn't mater if it pokes through the front of the box because it will be covered later.)

3- I then put the plates on the tooth pick and covered the end of the toothpick with glue and glued a lid from a juice bottle on the end to keep it all together.

My little boy decorated the inside of his Mater with Cars stickers he had received for Christmas.

1- Cut an oval out of black paper and glue it to the front of the car (Maters Mouth)

2- Cut out eyes and teeth from white paper/foam board and glue into place (I used foam board for Mater's teeth and eyes because I liked how it gave it a more real/3D look)

3- Draw 2 black circles for Maters Eyes with Sharpie marker (You can also cut out from black paper and glue on)

4- I used the leftover cardboard to make a circular engine and then glue gunned it on

5- Cut tin in half and glue on for headlights (Maters right headlight is broken out in the movie so the can thing works great.)

Next take 4 paper plates and glue on for wheels


Enjoy playing with you new Mater!