Tis the holiday season. And with it comes…..shipping boxes. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE not having to go to the store and try to find something when all I have to do is find it online, click a few times and it magically appears on my front doorstep. Well after about 10 boxes, I got a magic box from a research company and it was the perfect size for the 4 yo who was asking me for the 1000th time to take him to Target to buy a toy. So we proceeded to make a school bus out of it. And by we, I mean he told me what to do and I did it. But it was better than the incessant whining about his favorite place (Target) and tons better than actually going to said place. So I obliged.
Then we went to pick up his big brother from school and he was so happy with the bus that he had to bring it along. Thankfully it was small enough (just about shoebox size). Big brother instantly wanted to create something when we got home. So I pulled out a couple more boxes from the pile in the garage and thought Mason’s could easily be a doll house. He jumped at the suggestion. Matthew needed one as well, but of course it was called a play house – “it’s NOT a DOLL house, mom!”
I channeled my inner child and “helped” Mason with his while Matthew worked on his own. And, I’ll admit, pretty soon Mason left the room and would come back and check on my progress and art direct me. Nothing wrong with that, right? Here’s the final product with one very happy boy.
Anywho…here’s how we created our FREE cardboard dollhouse.
Supplies:
- One cardboard box (any decent size)
- Craft paper in various colors
- Scissors
- Glue
- Imagination
- Whatever furniture type toys you can find amongst the sea of toys
First we cut off the flaps on one side of the box while leaving the other side nice and taped up. We (and by “we”, I mean “I” going forward), glued colored craft paper to the bottom of the box. We used two colors and just overlapped them for easy sake. Then we used the cut off flaps to fashion the second floor and walls. I made the rooms divide where the two colors came together so that it looks like each room is a different color.
Then we went about decorating it. Mason found his Olivia furniture to start with. For the bedroom I added a rug on the floor and some artwork on the wall. The artwork is actually Mason’s artwork from preschool that I cut a little rectangle out of. Then I simply glued it to black paper forming the frame.
The living room needed to be festive since we’re approaching Christmas…and the boys are aaaaaall about Christmas. So we added a tree (totally forgot to put decorations on it before I glued it up – Oh well) and a fireplace and a stocking for each of us. Guess which one is Mason’s. And since there’s hardwood floors, we needed another rug. And there’s another Mason original piece of artwork hanging over the couch.
Now the kitchen needed something as Olivia’s kitchen table was nowhere to be found. We fashioned a makeshift could have been better but still worked fine table out of cardboard scraps. And then, since I’m insane, I added checkered tiles to the floor. Squares are easy enough to cut.
We had a leftover room. I asked Mason what it should be and just like any other kid that’s only concerned about his own world, he said it needed to be a playroom. Of course. Who needs a bathroom? So we went forth with the playroom and added a circle rug (just for some variety) and found some wooden blocks and dominos to make shelves out of. Then it was easy to fill up the playroom with little toys. Because we have sooooo many little toys.
We cut some windows and a functioning door into the sides of the house and I added an attic out of scrap cardboard which apparently is where an airplane should reside. We had two solid hours of crafting without any whining, fighting, or bickering. And I fulfilled my need to have a little girl…at least for those two hours. Oh and the best part if cost me $0. Can’t beat that!
