How to Build a Castle out of Cardboard Boxes
Find suitable cardboard boxes., Plan your castle design., Set the cardboard pieces in place to get an idea of the shape of the castle., Cut the ramparts design into the top of the box., Draw a stone design on a large sheet of tin foil., Cover the...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Find suitable cardboard boxes.
A sturdy, nicely shaped box would be best.
A good example is a box used for printer paper.
Cereal boxes, tissue boxes, or shoe boxes would work as well.
Also collect four cardboard rolls, these can either be toilet paper or paper towel rolls depending on the size of your castle. -
Step 2: Plan your castle design.
Check photos or illustrations of real castles for inspiration and create a design on paper.In the case of this article, it's going to be kept simple with just four walls with a traditional rampart design,and four rolls to act as turrets.
Then a moat will be added surrounding the castle.
If you do design the castle with more complexity, consider:
Creating turrets which are cut out separately and can stand alone.
Making one central tall tower for the prince or princess to be stuck in, with a window for the unfortunate royal to stare through. , With the box on your working surface, set the four long rolls to each corner of the photocopy paper box (don't physically attach them yet––this gets done later.) Assess the size of the turrets to the main castle box.
Adjust the turret size if needed.
If you would like the turrets to be taller, you can switch to a longer roll, like a paper towel or wrapping paper roll.
To make the turrets shorter, simply cut the current rolls down to size.
Be sure that you measure and cut all four rolls to the same height. , Ramparts are the surrounding walls of the castle and commonly have alternating squares and open square spaces.Use a ruler to measure and trace evenly spaced squares on the top of your box.
Using scissors, cut out every other square to create the rampart walls of the castle.
Another option is cutting a square template from a piece of cardboard and tracing that square all the way around the box.
Attempt to measure the square to a size which will fit all the way around the box in even spacing. , Measure out enough tin foil to cover a wall of the castle.
Lay this sheet of foil on your working surface and draw an alternating stone pattern using a permanent black marker.To do this, start at the bottom and draw rectangles of approximately the same size, one connected to the other, all the way across the bottom of the tin foil.
To create the next row of stones above this one, start at the center point of the first rectangle on the bottom row and draw a rectangle which covers the left half of the top of the first brick and the right half of the top of the second brick.
Continue following this pattern until you have reached the top.
If you prefer a more muted look to your castle, you can opt to use gray or tan Bristol Board or craft paper. , This will get rid of the cardboard look and it will create the smooth, shiny surface.
Apply a decent coverage of craft glue to the cardboard and press the foil in place on each wall and wrapped around the turrets.
The walls should be covered on both the front and back.
Wrap the excess foil around the tops of the walls to cover any exposed cardboard.
Gather the foil together at the top of the turrets to cover the hole in the top of the roll. , Measure the height of the corner of your castle wall.
Draw a line in pencil up the side of the turret which matches the length of the corner of the castle wall.
Start at the bottom and continue drawing up toward the top of the turret.
Using scissors, cut slits in the turrets along this line.
Place glue along the cut edges.
Wedge each turret onto a corner of the box.
Press and hold the glued edges to the corner of the castle wall until it feels secure. , Cut a piece of blue Bristol Board or craft into a square shape with rounded edges, that is larger than the castle and gives the appearance of a lake or moat surrounding the castle.
The reflection on the foil makes for a nice water effect. , Cut a small piece of black craft paper into a rectangle with a rounded top for the appearance of space going into the castle.
Then trace around that black doorway onto a piece of brown paper or cardboard and cut that brown shape out to form the bridge.
Glue the black piece to the front wall of the castle to create the door space.
Place the brown piece flat down in front of the door space and glue it to the moat.
Measure to be sure the bridge will be long enough to cross the moat.
To create a drawbridge effect, glue a piece of string to each side of the top of the black doorway.
Glue the other end of the strings to top of the bridge on each side.
This will create the effect of the chains used to draw up the bridge. , In this case, the turrets have been finished with roofs and flags and some banners have been hung from the ramparts.To make turret roofs, simply make cones from paper in the correct width and glue into place over the top of each turret tube.
Cut medieval flag and banner shapes from craft paper and glue them to toothpicks to create flags which you can glue into the tops of your turret roofs.
You can also glue banners on the front, top end of your rampart wall over the doorway. -
Step 3: Set the cardboard pieces in place to get an idea of the shape of the castle.
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Step 4: Cut the ramparts design into the top of the box.
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Step 5: Draw a stone design on a large sheet of tin foil.
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Step 6: Cover the entire castle in the decorated foil.
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Step 7: Attach the turrets to the corners of your castle wall.
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Step 8: Create a moat around the castle.
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Step 9: Build the castle bridge.
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Step 10: Add anything else that you think completes the castle's overall appearance.
Detailed Guide
A sturdy, nicely shaped box would be best.
A good example is a box used for printer paper.
Cereal boxes, tissue boxes, or shoe boxes would work as well.
Also collect four cardboard rolls, these can either be toilet paper or paper towel rolls depending on the size of your castle.
Check photos or illustrations of real castles for inspiration and create a design on paper.In the case of this article, it's going to be kept simple with just four walls with a traditional rampart design,and four rolls to act as turrets.
Then a moat will be added surrounding the castle.
If you do design the castle with more complexity, consider:
Creating turrets which are cut out separately and can stand alone.
Making one central tall tower for the prince or princess to be stuck in, with a window for the unfortunate royal to stare through. , With the box on your working surface, set the four long rolls to each corner of the photocopy paper box (don't physically attach them yet––this gets done later.) Assess the size of the turrets to the main castle box.
Adjust the turret size if needed.
If you would like the turrets to be taller, you can switch to a longer roll, like a paper towel or wrapping paper roll.
To make the turrets shorter, simply cut the current rolls down to size.
Be sure that you measure and cut all four rolls to the same height. , Ramparts are the surrounding walls of the castle and commonly have alternating squares and open square spaces.Use a ruler to measure and trace evenly spaced squares on the top of your box.
Using scissors, cut out every other square to create the rampart walls of the castle.
Another option is cutting a square template from a piece of cardboard and tracing that square all the way around the box.
Attempt to measure the square to a size which will fit all the way around the box in even spacing. , Measure out enough tin foil to cover a wall of the castle.
Lay this sheet of foil on your working surface and draw an alternating stone pattern using a permanent black marker.To do this, start at the bottom and draw rectangles of approximately the same size, one connected to the other, all the way across the bottom of the tin foil.
To create the next row of stones above this one, start at the center point of the first rectangle on the bottom row and draw a rectangle which covers the left half of the top of the first brick and the right half of the top of the second brick.
Continue following this pattern until you have reached the top.
If you prefer a more muted look to your castle, you can opt to use gray or tan Bristol Board or craft paper. , This will get rid of the cardboard look and it will create the smooth, shiny surface.
Apply a decent coverage of craft glue to the cardboard and press the foil in place on each wall and wrapped around the turrets.
The walls should be covered on both the front and back.
Wrap the excess foil around the tops of the walls to cover any exposed cardboard.
Gather the foil together at the top of the turrets to cover the hole in the top of the roll. , Measure the height of the corner of your castle wall.
Draw a line in pencil up the side of the turret which matches the length of the corner of the castle wall.
Start at the bottom and continue drawing up toward the top of the turret.
Using scissors, cut slits in the turrets along this line.
Place glue along the cut edges.
Wedge each turret onto a corner of the box.
Press and hold the glued edges to the corner of the castle wall until it feels secure. , Cut a piece of blue Bristol Board or craft into a square shape with rounded edges, that is larger than the castle and gives the appearance of a lake or moat surrounding the castle.
The reflection on the foil makes for a nice water effect. , Cut a small piece of black craft paper into a rectangle with a rounded top for the appearance of space going into the castle.
Then trace around that black doorway onto a piece of brown paper or cardboard and cut that brown shape out to form the bridge.
Glue the black piece to the front wall of the castle to create the door space.
Place the brown piece flat down in front of the door space and glue it to the moat.
Measure to be sure the bridge will be long enough to cross the moat.
To create a drawbridge effect, glue a piece of string to each side of the top of the black doorway.
Glue the other end of the strings to top of the bridge on each side.
This will create the effect of the chains used to draw up the bridge. , In this case, the turrets have been finished with roofs and flags and some banners have been hung from the ramparts.To make turret roofs, simply make cones from paper in the correct width and glue into place over the top of each turret tube.
Cut medieval flag and banner shapes from craft paper and glue them to toothpicks to create flags which you can glue into the tops of your turret roofs.
You can also glue banners on the front, top end of your rampart wall over the doorway.
About the Author
Theresa Howard
Specializes in breaking down complex home improvement topics into simple steps.
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