Small Spaces: A Cardboard Playroom

I was inspired by fellow mommy bloggers, Summer (A Happy Mum) and Adeline (Growing With The Tans), to embark on my own cardboard crafting journey for my children. Summer hand-crafted Fairy Wings out of cardboards while Adeline constructed a cool Airplane! I was a little ambitious to make this a big project. It will not be just one cardboard kitchen but a playroom filled with cardboard creations would be fun! 

Firstly, get that book! Summer and Adeline recommended The Cardboard Box Book by Roger Priddy and Sarah Powell in their respective blogs. Since it had been tried and tested, I shan't go against the flow and rode the wave as well! I made my purchase on Amazon at USD 9 (which came up to to be approximately SGD 13) and it sat on my table for almost a month. 

I procrastinated and then the Italy trip came up. We returned from our holiday with a jet-lag and I wondered if I'll ever get started on this turn-Faye's-nursery-into-a-playroom project. She had been upgraded from the cot to sharing a room with her big brother, thus the notion of a revamp since she no longer needs a nursery. 

Ironically, what got me started was the moving in of my neighbour. I opened my front door one day to find movers with 20 boxes at my doorstep! I beamed with delight as if I saw GOLD! I had them sending me empty boxes my way and got down to work immediately. Three days was all I took to set this exciting cardboard playroom up. Uh-hmmm... three nights actually because when every single minute of your time is spent with your children in the day, the only time left to pursue this idea is from midnight. I worked on them between 11pm to 5am with interruptions as Faye still wakes in the middle of the night. When I wake up every morning with only two hours of sleep, I asked myself why do I even bother! 

But, it became an addiction. Then again, this cardboard compulsion needs to come to a stop after three play items because I desperately need my sleep back.

Time Taken to Build:

I. The Market Stall - 6 hours 

II. The Theatre - 4 hours 

III. The Play Oven - 2 hours

I hid them all in the playroom and decided to do the reveal only when I had perfected my "assignment". I do not remember where the key to the room was but kept the door closed at all times hoping the children wouldn't wander in on their own. Thankfully, out-of-sight-out-of-mind stands true. They walked right past the closed door every single day without attempting to enter. 

Satisfied with my cardboard production, I decided to reveal the playroom to them today - after their afternoon nap. While they snoozed, I shifted things around and made sure it looked impressive enough for them to enter with a big loud WOW! 

I. The Market Stall
My first attempt to cardboard-making. It was the most difficult because it can get dangerously flimsy and it is! I need to improvise this further to let it last longer than its current lifespan. We are selling mushrooms in this stall, together with a crate of vegetables. I made the wooden crate our of cardboard scraps and decided a potted plant at the bottom would brighten things up a little. I didn't have spray paints or proper paint materials to get it looking like the book's description. So, I used markers instead. Tedious but it worked!

II. The Theatre

This is my favourite. The colours pop and I spent a lot of time designing the backdrop which turned out really pretty in my opinion. The original design template in the book suggested two tissue boxes for this theatre but I decided to make something large since I collected so many boxes from my neighbour. I'm sure glad I did because I did a Pinocchio show for the children this evening (Opens Daily at 5pm if you notice) and their hearty laughters were most gratifying. 

III. The Play Oven 

This is the easiest of the lot. All it requires is a box. The rest are simple cutting and pasting. The book suggests a more elaborate stove but I had enough of late nights. Improvised and made something really simple yet playable for Ewan and Faye. 

These are mommy's creations but it wouldn't mean anything if the children hadn't add in their childlike touches to them. So, I prepared paints and crayons with a variety of paint brushes for graffiti work by my little Sandro Botticellis. Put together on the table of crafts were animal cut-outs and glue for free-play. I was really excited to see what comes out of their session!

With that, we are officially done with our cardboard creations as a team! Oh daddy wasn't involved, what a pity. I bet he is gloating that he needn't clean up nor lose sleep over these.

We hope you will be inspired and work on cardboard crafting with your children too! With older kids, you will be able to involve them from scratch while little children like mine will have to wait till the structure is up before they can come on board. Super glue, penknives and scissors aren't exactly safe items to have their tiny hands near to. It had been fun! Now, I shall dedicate my following week to proper, restful sleep.

Moms Who Cardboard-Crafted:

A Happy Mum on Fairy Wings

Amazingly Still on a Castle

Growing With The Tans on an Airplane

Life's Tiny Miracles on a Princess Play Fort

Princess and The Rock on a Mailbox

The Kam Family on Captain America Shield

Xavvy-licious on a Mini Playground

宝与恒昕 on a Truck

Read our articles on Small Spaces:
Children's Room
Our Children Invaded the House
2-Bedroom Apartment for 4

A Tree-Free Christmas Tis' Year

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A stay at home mum, blogging to widen her social life. 
We want to echo the sound of love through our lives to inspire other mothers alike.