Cardboard Turn-taking Cube

This cardboard die was made in an attempt to settle disputes in our house. My youngest had just turned two, and well, no dice, it didn't work at all. The two of them actually fought over who got to play with the cube, so I just put it on my shelf, and chalked it up to a failed experiment.

At two and a half though, things have changed for the better, and the "turn cube" is doing me some justice.

Just a cardboard cube, six photos and assorted washi tape is all that you need. If you have an odd number of children in your family, you'll need to put a "roll again" message on one face of the cube, and if you have more than 6 kids, well, I'm sure you've figured out a better system than this for maintaining your sanity!

For instructions on how to make the cube, you can find them here, in the book I sell in my Etsy shop. The pattern also explains how to make large cardboard blocks that you can take apart and store flat, a really cool design.

Otherwise, try a plain cube-shaped cardboard box, often the ones that ornaments come in at this time of year are perfect!

Although it's already Mid November, I just wanted to say thanks again to all of you who took the Cardboard Costume Challenge this year.

Whether you sent in pictures or just got thinking about the idea for the future, thanks for following us on this year's Halloween adventure. I had so much fun working on our insect family costumes as well as the other costume tutorials.

I hope to see you again next year, and please visit the Pinterest Board now and then as you start scheming and dreaming for 2014. (I already have a request for a Humback Whale costume from the littlest one and a year might be just enough time to figure it out!)

Luna Moth Costume

AmberLuna Moth, 2013 Found cardboard and paper, egg and apple cartons, paper cord, watercolor, pastel chalk, white glue

Last in the series:

"Insect Family"

Blue Butterfly Wings

AmberLittle Blue Butterfly, 2013 Found cardboard and paper, melon and apple cartons, paper cord, watercolor, pastel chalk, white glue

part of the series:

"Insect Family"

(Inspired by this butterfly puppet by Octodrone that my daughter fell in love with.)

Cardboard Lightning Bug

Pete Lightning Bug, 2013 (commonly mistaken for cockroach) Found cardboard and paper, steel nuts & bolts, watercolor, white glue

part of the series:

"Insect Family"

More Cardboard Costume Challengers

Where the wild things are cardboard mask by Tara Middleton

Wall E by Jennifer Kent

A few spectacular cardboard costumes sent in, and don't forget to check out the Flickr pool if you haven't already!

Cardboard Costume Challengers

Cardboard Costume Challenge, a group on Flickr.

Check out these amazing costumes!

Cardboard Grasshopper Costume

Amber Rainbow Locust, 2013 Found cardboard, melon cartons, watercolor, chalk pastel, white glue

Welcome!

.....to a tiny cardboard costume exhibition of our costumes called:

"Insect Family"

Stay tuned for more winged cardboard creatures.....

Send Your Photos!

Did you make your costume out of cardboard this Halloween? Were you excited and proud?

I'd love to publish your photos here on the blog or link to them, etc. so we can broadcast your cardboard creativity to the entire world!

Please email your photos to thecardboardcollectiveblog@gmail.com with permission to post or upload to the Cardboard Costume Flickr board HERE.

Cardboard robots always welcome.......

How to Start a Body Piece For a Cardboard Costume

In case you are just starting your costume, (like me) I wanted to show you that you can still get started with a cool cardboard costume and finish before Halloween (you will have to hustle). Although I'm going as a grasshopper, most elements are the same, I'll just be dealing with extra legs and antennae...

Just start with long cardboard strips, (mine are a rulers width), and drape them over the shoulders attaching horizontal strips as needed.

You can build a structure pretty quickly on which to start gluing cardboard skirt pieces and armor layers.

The rounded layers on the shoulders above are made by tracing a variety of bowls and plates, cutting them in half, then folding them and gluing them into place.

Really, it's not about the cardboard though, is it? It's about trying something new that you have never done before....it can make you sheepish. Well, I'm here to say: You can do this!

My inspiration: these incredible costumes from last year's challenge:

Archery Knight by Rachel and Tom Morgan

Cardboard Knight Costume by wrnking via Flickr

More Inspiration:

A Great Cardboard Helmet Tutorial via Instructables

A Great Cardboard Armor Tutorial via Instructables

Costume Inspiration: Fraidy Zoo

This morning I got an email that made my heart leap into my green tea......The above pictures attached to an email from newly hatched author illustrator Thyra Heder.

Thyra's written a new book called, "Fraidy Zoo." It's about a family that makes a series of animal costumes (one for each letter of the alphabet) out of cardboard and other household objects in the attempt to find out which animal is scaring the littlest member of the family from going on a trip to the zoo. I was totally inspired by the illustrations and instantly charmed by the creative spirit of the family in the book and had to share it with you!

Just as excitingly, Thyra's in the process of building the cardboard rhinoceros from the book right now, but you really should visit her blog to see some of the photos she's posted showcasing some of the other cardboard creations she and her friends have made in celebration of the upcoming launch of the book.

Fraidy Zoo is coming out November 5th and you can find more info here: at Indibound or pre-order it via Amazon.

Butterfly & Moth: Sneak Peak

We've started to add elements to the cardboard hat pieces we made yesterday. Eyes are made from watercolor painted paper liners for shipping apples and citrus and the green fringe on the front of the moth mask is made from egg cartons...

How to Start a Cardboard Head, Hat or Helmet

These are the beginnings of the head pieces the girls will wear for their butterfly and moth costumes.  We will be attaching antennas and textured cardboard to complete them.

Simple Steps:

1. Cut strips of cardboard about 1.5" wide and longer than you need to wrap around your head.

2. Measure cut and glue a strip of cardboard together so it fits around your head.

3. Attach 2 more cardboard strips so that they cross over the mid point of your head.

4. Add additional strips as desired.

5. Use this base for attaching ears, horns, antennas, or a mask.

Gathering Inspiration & Making a Plan

When my daughter decided that she was going to be a butterfly this year, we thought, hey why not be a whole family of insects?

Then the real thinking began and we each had to commit to our insect of choice... My husband chose early and is following an entirely logical, and proper plan for attacking his costume, bit by bit. Although it's not typically my style ( I wish it was), I'm going to try following his approach this year too.

Here's what we've done so far:

1. Create an inspiration board. I like to use Pinterest. Here's a link to the board I'm using for my Grasshopper costume. I usually try to gather examples from the following categories to get a well rounded amount of inspiration and produce a unique and creative costume.

• realistic images (many views)

• inspirational costumes

• images that address problems or difficult parts

• images that inspire shapes or moods

2. Create a detailed sketch of your costume. I like my husband's approach of folding a regular piece of white paper in half vertically and drawing the costume from the front and back. It keeps it simple. After drawing, he began to add measurements.

3. Collect materials and prototype. I like to try smaller versions of some costume parts first to see if my ideas will work, then I know if I have to keep trouble shooting any parts of the costume.

How about you? Are you well on your way, or just getting started?

Cardboard & Newsprint Unicorn Costume

To make the costume you'll need:

• white paper egg cartons

• white newsprint or tissue paper (rainbow colors would be great!)

• toilet paper tubes

• metallic cardboard, (or rainbow paint your regular cardboard)

• stapler

Simple Steps:

1. cut a rectangular strip of cardboard about 4 inches wide and 10 inches long

2. fringe newsprint, then fold the ends over the cardboard and staple

3. cut ears from egg cartons and attach with stapler

4. create cone shaped horn from metallic cardboard and staple down

5. cut toilet paper tubes so that they can fit over your wrists and ankles like a cuff

6. fringe more newsprint and staple to cuffs (place tape over staples to avoid irritation)

7. shape the ends of the toilet paper tubes to look like hooves.

Cardboard Play Day at Kujira Yama (#6)

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Cardboard Kryptonite! We had light rain just after our event was set up for The Global Cardboard Challenge on Friday.  Sadly, most of the kids we anticipated didn't show up. We didn't lose heart though, and a few brave souls trickled in after the weather cleared to inhabit the cardboard dwellings that were created. As always, it was great fun and I couldn't have done it without my husband's help, or the wonderful folks that run the play park adventure playground.

I had such a great time this year getting to know the folks at The Imagination Foundation, as well as other Cardboard Challenge organizers from around the world. This year there were more than 43 countries represented and 100,000 kids at the Global Cardboard Play Day. If you've ever thought about planning an event for your community next year, be sure to visit Caine's Arcade to find out more. You can be part of this amazing and inspiring cardboard movement!

More Cardboard Heads

We've already gotten our first photos for the Cardboard Costume Challenge!

Christine Scheer made this incredible Pavlov's Dog head entirely from cardboard for a cardboard costume charity event she attended in late September.

You can see how Christine started her head by making the upper and lower cardboard jawbone pieces and then used strips to connect the pieces.

This a truly original costume idea! Thanks for sending your awesome pictures Christine!

Cardboard Costume by Christine Scheer

Cardboard Heads

If you're thinking about making a cardboard headpiece for your Halloween costume, this weekend is the time to get started! Last Year we created 2 different kinds of cardboard heads, using two different methods.

The first head was for a chameleon costume, and utilized the hood pattern for sewing a kid's jacket. To read the post about adapting a sewing pattern for use with cardboard, click HERE

The second head was built by making a cardboard skeleton and then gluing down layers of  ripped cardboard. You can see more pictures of the development HERE.

Because every cardboard head is a little different, I'll lay out the most basic steps so you can get started. Have fun and experiment, the point is to develop you're own style...

1. Make a cardboard band that fits snugly around your head.

2. Create cardboard side pieces that are similar in shape to the skull of the creature if you look at it sideways.

3. Glue or staple the pieces to the cardboard band.

4. Use cardboard strips to connect the side pieces and shape the front of the creature's face.

5. Cover your cardboard head with crumpled up and flattened out copy paper, fringed newspaper, Kraft paper, torn pieces of egg carton or ripped pieces of corrugated cardboard. You can take a look at the Cardboard Costume Pinterest Board for more inspiration.

Here's a great video by John Gleeson Connolly (via Apartment Therapy) talking about how he made a simple cardboard dragon head for his son's Halloween costume using a similar method. http://vimeo.com/51576209

Cardboard Costume Challenge 2013!

YYYYEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!  Today is the Kick-off  for The 2nd Annual Cardboard Costume Challenge!

The Mission? to inspire the making of awesome handmade cardboard costumes.

My secret agenda? Help parents reconnect with their kids (and themselves) through making.... and my even more secret agenda, rid the earth of flimsy, flame-retardant Halloween costumes destined for the landfill.

I decided that this year I wanted to adopt a non-commercial, non-competitive approach (less contest, more spirit tunnel) AND I wanted to make the event more kid-centered (it's such a valuable design opportunity for kids.) I also wanted to encourage adults, who maybe don't own a sewing machine, or don't think of themselves as "creative" to branch out and try dabbling in cardboard.

Cardboard Cowboys by Leelada via Flickr

My own creative mother found the costumes entered last year so amazing she said she was too intimidated to attempt a cardboard costume! This year there won't be any categories, sponsors, or prizes.....just an event for sharing cardboard enthusiasm and the love of making!

So what do you think? Sound interesting? You can follow posts and tutorials throughout the month of October centered around topics like cardboard hats, masks, accessories, and other costume extras plus info about tools, tips for working with cardboard, and moving from idea to finished costume.

Upload pictures of your costume in progress (as well as completed) HERE in the Flickr community and access past tutorials HERE.

P.S.

There are a few prize related contests and opportunities out there that you should know about if you would like to enter a competition (with some pretty substantial loot.) We'll definitely be rooting for you!

Inhabitat Green Halloween Costume Contest (adults)

Inhabitot Green Halloween Costume Contest (kids)

DIY's Cardboarder Badge

See you soon!

Cardboard Play Day at Kujira Yama

This Friday the adventure playground Play Park will be hosting us for a "Cardboard Play Day" to celebrate the Global Cardboard Challenge. We're praying for sun, since a rain day will mean re-scheduling, but either way preparations are in the works for an amazing day.

Play Park is part of an incredible, volunteer supported NGO (NPO) called Asobiba that operates a variety of permanent and temporary adventure playgrounds throughout Tokyo. I'm so excited to work with them and hope to bring cardboard play into their adventure play repertoire in the future!

If you're free, and you're in Tokyo, please join us!

武蔵野公園  クジラ山

Location: Musashino Park's Whale Mountain プレー  パーク October 4, 2013 2013年 10月 4日 FREE 無料 12pm-5pm 午前12時 - 午後5時 Rainy Day = canceled 雨降りの日 = 取消