Sunday 19 December 2010

box playhouse

we finally got the plumbing hooked up to use our new fridge last week and, while pretty excited about the fridge, i was actually more excited to get my hands on the box the fridge came in. it's MASSIVE and i had so many weeks to gaze at it and plot what it could become once vacated. on friday, during the kids' naps, i got to work:

boxhouse step1

using a box cutter (utility knife), i cut the top flaps off first - we'd had to pull the seam of the box apart to get the fridge out but i actually found it easier to work with this way as i had something to grab onto when cutting. then i guessed what height would work for mae and measured and cut the roof angles.

boxhouse step2

for the roof sides, i scored a line across the cardboard where i wanted it to bend (just ran the knife lightly across a line i'd drawn from side to side, cutting the first layer of board only).

boxhousestep3

then i could measure how much needed to be trimmed off to make the side meet up with the point of the roof and then score, bend and trim the second roof side.

boxhouse step4

i again had to guess how big to make the door since mae was still asleep. and you can see where i had to do a little tape patch up job as i started to cut it to the floor before realising that, since the box doesn't have a bottom, i needed to leave the door in a bit for stability.

boxhouse

and yay! maesey woke up so we could tape up the seams (i used super wide masking tape so that i'll be able to paint it) and cut in the windows together (actually i cut in the windows while she stood far, far away from the super sharp knife blade). i had planned to do the traditional four pane window design but after cutting the two top ones above the door, i was a bit worried about structural integrity so decided to leave it as is and mimic the design on the side.

boxhouse step5

oh, and i cut a little doorknob in, too, after watching her play in it for awhile.

boxhouse window peek

do you think she is happy with it? : )

let's cross our fingers for some decent weather this week so we can take it outside and paint it up!


note: our box had a written on it that because of sharp corners and staples, children should not play in the box (i love that you can read that type right under mae's cheeky face above) but we had already pulled the box apart by its one seam and it wasn't even put together with staples, only glue so i'm assuming that was a general "to avoid potential lawsuits" disclaimer from the manufacturer. still, if you decide to make a boxhouse yourself, watch out for staples. and sharp corners, apparently.

11 comments:

  1. Fantastic job! What a great cubby for Mae. I love that in 2005, the cardboard box was added to the US National Toy Hall of Fame - recognising that kids all over the world love to play with boxes! - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Toy_Hall_of_Fame

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  2. That is wonderful! Mae looks very happy with it.

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  3. Anonymous9:13 am

    absolutely gorgeous. wonderfully creative. love it.

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  4. this totally rocks - loving the label irony!

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  5. this i love! painting it will be so much fun and i can see myself getting carried away with little curtains and flower boxes. awesome.

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  6. Fabulous! Mae is looking so much more grown up these days.

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  7. There are few things more fun for little kids. When Ella was small we too got a new fridge and stove. Now we have a small house but those two houses that we made stayed with us for over a year and even then I had to sneak them out. We also made window boxes from smaller boxes and filled them with fake flowers. We painted the outside like a real house and made fabric curtains. On the inside Ella and I did murals of flowers, bees and the like and those walls now line their real cubby at my parent's place. You know Ella is 7 now and I am pretty sure she'd be just as happy to do it all again!

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  8. That is one fantastic box house. It looks a great size for Mae. So far I haven't got any more creative than cutting a window hole in a box (as is). I'm feeling inspired - now for the large box (might have to go shopping).

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  9. WHat a great idea Leslie. It might be worth knocking on the back door of Harvey Norman or Clive Peeters to get a big box like that. It looks like hours of entertainment. Thanks for the inspiration

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  10. really creative!! :) She looks happy

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