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DIY Cardboard Costumes

October 25, 2022 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Have you ever looked at your child creating something and thought “how did they think of that?” It happens over here a lot. I am constantly amazed at my kids’ creativity, and it really shows in their cardboard costumes. I love Walt Disney’s quote,

“our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.”

This quote sums up the process of my children creating something they need. We try to go as thrifty as we can for Halloween costumes. I love dress up and I love creativity and it feels like Halloween can merge those two passions so beautifully. Cardboard is a cheap material, so they often opt to make a cardboard costume for Halloween.

Do I Buy or Make a Costume?

For the record, I am NOT about paying a ton for a costume that you wear one time. Yet, we had probably a half dozen Toy Story costumes when our kids were younger because they literally lived in them all day long.

So, knowing your children and their interest level is important when deciding how invested you want to be in a Halloween costume.

Now that we have big kids, they wont wear the costume again. Dress up is not one of their everyday hobbies anymore. In that case, we want to have fun, play, and have something to wear and celebrate the day. Cardboard costumes can be quick, resourceful, inexpensive, fun and get the job done.

cardboard costume

What do I need to create a DIY Cardboard Costume?

Big boxes can be the whole costume. I will never forget being out on a walk and seeing Sponge Bob run up to me. It was one of the funniest parenting moments. Who expects to see their child in a cardboard box version of Sponge Bob run up to them!?

A box box can be taped shut, painted and have holes cut for the arms and legs and be pretty amazing.

Our Caleb loves shoes. He buys shoes, he paints shoes, he draws shoes, and he even sells shoes. Do you know anyone like that? You can see more of his love for shoes/art on his YouTube channel. It made perfect sense that he would dress up as a shoe box one year. When we let our kids create their own costume, it can be more personalized and tuned to their individual interests.

Maybe you just have a sheet of cardboard laying around. It ca be turned into a mask. It can be as big as a pumpkin (wearing sunglasses) or smaller like an animal face. I love that the DIY style lets you be as elaborate or simple your time frame and heart’s desire cares to invest.

Our Reagan loves to create, so of course she spent more time on the fox mask than I did on the large cardboard piece we used for a skit.

cardboard costumeWe all are ordering online these days. By having things we love shipped directly to our door, we can have smaller cardboard boxes pile up. Am I right!? A smaller cardboard box can be the perfect addition to clothes you already have at home.

Have you ever been to a stadium baseball game or basketball game where the ushers are going up and down the stairs selling drinks? One year, our Caleb dressed up as a Dr. Pepper sales guy and it still makes me laugh to look at this picture. DIY Cardboard costumes can be hilarious and so fun. Caleb literally gave away some caned Dr. Peppers during our trick or treating that night. You should have seen the kids asking to trade candy for a drink with him!

What do you think? Do you still need a costume for this year’s trick or treating or Halloween party? Have fun imagining the possibilities! You can save a trip to Walmart and some $ by recycling your cardboard box into a creative costume.

cardboard costumeNeed more help tapping into your exquisite imagination? Join me in this 30 day challenge to practice imagining and allow the interesting, rewarding possibilities to emerge!

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DIY Valentines Heart Wreath

February 10, 2019 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

It’s the week of hearts.

It’s no secret that we aren’t big Valentines Day people. I believe so much more in sharing that you love all year long in simple, kind, thoughtful ways. BUT, I do love a good heart craft, and with kids it is hard to completely ignore the holiday.

Since I can’t fully ignore it, I just try to keep it cheap and quick. Thanks to cardboard, that is possible!! (What would we do without cardboard around here!?!?! It fuels a lot of creativity.)

You too can make a fun cardboard wreath to use as decor or stay tuned to the bottom of this post to see how it could be a fun, class, collaborative project.

I started with a bunch of cardboard boxes. I cut off the box flaps and use those pieces to then cut into heart shapes.

I tried to keep two sizes. One slightly larger than the other, but I didn’t not trace the heart to make them all exactly the same. I just eyeballed it to keep it close.

Next, I painted the hearts. I picked colors that went with the Valentine’s theme. You could tweak this step to personalize these hearts and their colors to being pinks for a baby shower or maybe blues & pinks for a gender reveal party!

After I painted my hearts and they were completely dry, I used Elmers glue to attach them to one another. I used blue Elmers Glue, only because it was the first glue I found. Any school glue or hot glue would work!

I played around with laying the hearts in a circle, overlapping one another. I tried to split the pinks and reds from being right next to each other. I then added a little glue to the back of the hearts for where they would overlap another heart and press it into place for a few seconds.

You can probably tell by the pictures I created a base with the bigger hearts and then the smaller ones on top. It helps create a thicker, 3d shape and gives it some depth.

It was so quick! It gives my house a little Valentine’s pop without spending money on decorations.

After I made my wreath, I thought this could be such a fun quick class party craft.

Have every child color, paint their own heart. Maybe they just do solid colors and then add their name in a sharpie? Or maybe they write a way they can show love to their classmates? Or maybe they write something they love about their teacher? There’s so many ways you could take this project. It could then be displayed on the classes door or in the room for the rest of the month.

We all need reminders to love one another well, right!? Have fun! If you do this project, I’d love to see it! Share with #spoonfulofimagination on social media so we can cheer one another along in our crafty journeys!

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VLOG Behind the Scenes: The Ultimate Cardboard Box Fort

February 5, 2019 By Erica Deuel 1 Comment

Did you ever build forts as a kid? Do your kids build forts now? We often use blankets to create forts and we lay them over chairs and tables to create a fun hideout.

In our latest YouTube videos, we show you how our family built the ultimate cardboard fort.

In part one, we used left over boxes from the holidays and some boxes that were donated to us from a family move to create our fort. The kids actually inspired and launched this project on their own by creating individual cardboard forts. They had so much fun we decided to combine our forces to create the ultimate fort!

In part two of this project, we show you how the kids embellished their city! Although Matt and I helped a lot during the building phase, this step of the project we stepped back. The kids got to work and make it their own! It worked out that each kid had one section to stylize as their own.

At times one child would help another with something for “their” section or they would point out ideas to one another. It was so fun to see their collaboration.

If you haven’t watched the video (or maybe you have but written instructions help you!), here is a list of some basic craft items that you might need to get you started. As always though, feel free to make this project your own. You do not need all these supplies to make a box fort. We have also made box forts with just one box and a marker. That’s it. The possibilities are endless.

Supplies:

  • cardboard boxes
  • hot glue gun (with glue sticks)
  • school glue
  • packaging tape
  • box cutter
  • scissors
  • colorful paper (construction paper, scrapbook paper, etc)
  • markers
  • buttons
  • pom poms
  • regiments left over from other craft projects

Basic Steps:

  1. Use the box cutter, scissors, hot glue, and packaging tape to construct a cardboard fort. Depending on the number and size of boxes you give your child will alter the size of your fort. Moving boxes and Wardrobe work great because they are thick, sturdy cardboard. One box could be enough! Depending on the size and number of kids you can size out your fort as needed. If recycled boxes aren’t an option for you, all of the big box home improvement store carry them. One tip to keep in mind as you build your fort is cutting on the folds/flaps of the cardboard will be easier than cutting directly into the cardboard. You can strategically use that tip as you help build.
  2. Paint your cardboard house. This is fun step in getting creative. The colors of your fort can be wacky and fun. The personality of your kids will also play in to if they want traditional colors or possibly a purple house. We often use leftover latex paint from different house project. You know, those less than half-a-gallon buckets that have been sitting in the garage for a year… those work great. We also buy sample paints from the paint store for about $4. That gives you about 8oz of latex paint that should cover 20-25 sq ft.
  3. The next step is to embellish your fort. Use all the crafty bits you have around your house to cut, draw, and glue onto your fort to personalize it. This process can go on for hours, be built on for days after, or be considered done as soon as your artists are tired.
  4. The final step is to play! Play, imagine, and let those kids enjoy their fort!

 

We loved seeing our kids’ imaginations come alive. Everyone thinks differently and it can be seen in art. I know I would never have thought to rip up blue paper to create water, but Reagan did. Her creativity encourages me and makes me want to create.

Art can be circular and encouraging like that!

What do you think!? Would you paint in your living room too!? Or did you shudder when we did that!?

We had a blast making this fort and we hope you too can make a fort sometime! Save a few boxes for the next rainy, cold, indoor day. This project could help you! We spent two days as a family one weekend dreaming and creating together – and that to us is the biggest win!

If you give it a try, we would love to see your fort! Tag us on social media with #spoonfulofimagination so we can see your creativity at work. Oh and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and click on the “Bell” icon so that you can the very first notification when we upload a new video.

Thanks so much friends!

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