It's a Cardboard Castle!

What do you do when you have a lot of big boxes but make a Cardboard Castle of course! I hadn't thought to do this for the family toddlers until I saw it on Pinterest, and I was hesitant because it seems...tacky? That wasn't going to stop me, however, and inspiration struck thanks to cottagecore painting and castle facades.

After a day of temporarily taping, assembling, cutting out windows, and configuring the roof; it took another day to hot glue all the seams. I added a cardboard floor for a sturdy base, and corners were reinforced with those extra cardboard corners shrewdly saved from other shipping. It's all surprisingly solid! Finishing the seams with masking tape and painting those joints brown while the rest of the walls were done in a white wash paint created a fun, medieval-esque interior. The paint job didn't have to be perfect and I could have gone into much more ye olde detail, but why go for broke on a recycled, temporary project that a child will ultimately out grow? The floor and roof lines were also painted brown to complete the look, embracing the bones of the building for what it's worth!

For the exterior I turned to the dollar store castle stone Halloween scene setter seen in my Using Halloween Scene Setters Everyday craft. (It's still hanging in my basement!) Wrapping the plastic around was just like a big Christmas present. The stone pattern is fairly forgiving so long as you pay attention to the roof angles and folded corners. I was probably unnecessarily fussy in making sure my clear tape lines were as taut as possible, but using tape instead of glue meant I can salvage the scene setter once the play castle has had it's day. Overall, this took about three and a half days between other holiday projects – an easy family to-do thanks to found materials and paints.

Older kids might enjoy decorating something like this themselves, and I may put a rug and a pillow inside to create a future reading nook. It all seems preposterous and short lived, yet the possibilities are endless!

For more progress photos, follow Kbatz Krafts on Facebook and Instagram! 

More Recycled Kbatz Krafts:

Cardboard Stained Glass Window

Cardboard Coffin

DIY Gothic Lantern

Pumpkin Car Makeover