There's Magic Out There: Not your typical Gingerbread house (Cardboard Box fun)

December 28, 2012

Not your typical Gingerbread house (Cardboard Box fun)


This week while getting ready for Christmas munchkin kept asking to make a gingerbread house. Well he doesn't like gingerbread or much of any candy really (except chocolate) and I didn't want to make one and then have it be wasted so I decided to think of a way to have him get his house without the waste. That's when I saw what we had at home to use and it came out great!

Materials:
  • 2 Cardboard boxes (I used pull up boxes)
  • glue/glue stick (glue stick works best)
  • heavy duty tape
  • multi colored paper
  • scissors
  • ruler
  • Christmas coloring books
  • plain white paper
  • colors/markers/color pencils
Instructions:
  1. Take your boxes and cut them at every major crease
  2. Look at all your pieces of cardboard and imagine the size you want to achieve for your house. I personally wanted it big and didn't want to have to measure too much so I kept the sizes pretty as is long wise.
  3. I then measured the main piece that would become my front of house with a ruler long wise so as to find the center point. Then I decided how tall I wanted it so i could make my border for the roof edges.  I used the center point to make the lines for cutting the triangular shape out evenly. Then cut it out according to the lines.
  4.  I then got the 2nd piece of cardboard and traced the first front piece onto that piece, cut it out and that became the back of the house.
  5. For the 2 sides of the house I measured the height of the corner before the roof starts on the front piece and made the 2 side pieces into rectangles to match the houses height.
  6. I then used the heavy duty masking tape to tape  all 4 pieces together on the inside. I then traced along the edges of the bottom floor of the house on to a piece of cardboard  and cut it out and taped it onto the rest of the structure making it the floor base.
  7. I measured with a ruler the length across from the back of the house to the front of the house where the gap for a roof was and cut a rectangle to to cover the left and then another to cover the right and made sure that when held together they closed up as a roof evenly. Then it was taped in place.
  8. The rest of this is now mainly aesthetic. my box looked pretty good because I kept the cardboard pieces design on the inside of the structure as well as most of the tape. You can decorate it as you wish with various Christmas odds and ends that you may have had as leftovers from wrapping and decorating.
  9. I used colored paper to make roof shingles that I saw here in a cute pattern. I cut them out and me and munchkin put them on the roof with a glue stick. I then used a solid color to cover the tip of the house so as to hide the cardboard.
  10. For all 4 sides of the house I used white paper trimmed to size to cover the cardboard and give it a more clean look (glue stick works best).
  11. Finally I made details such as windows and doors.
  12. The last and the funnest part you can do with kids of any age is coloring! Grab some Christmas coloring books and color fun stuff. I found various coloring pages of candies, presents and Christmas trees and more to color with my munchkin. I then cut them out and glued some on as scenery's around the house. I then kept some just for the use of fun! I put a piece of not so sticky double sided tape on the back of Santa and other Christmas items such as gingerbread men so that he could just put them on and off of the house on various scenes. It was too cute and he loved it!



Keep in mind that you can make your house into any theme you want. One for Easter with a bunny and eggs to hide all over or a haunted house for Halloween. *future craft idea*

Happy Crafting & Happy Holidays from my family to yours!

My inspiration came from Say Yes To Hoboken

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47 comments:

  1. That is so cute, I have to try this!

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  2. How cute! Looks like y'all had a great time. Have a happy New Year!

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  3. What a great idea! Love the colorful roof!My daughter used graham crackers, icing, and candy for hers and tonight we are trying to figure out what to do with it now. I think I like what you did better! (Visiting from Bloggy Moms)
    Melissa
    www.melissaedwards.org

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    Replies
    1. Thankyou! Thats what I was trying to avoid. Im going to check your page out

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  4. probably less messy than your gingerbread cookie variety and probably last longer too :) i wonder if you make it hollow on one side, can you turn it into a doll house?


    -Gita
    mimiandchichi.com

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    Replies
    1. I think that would would great! It would make space for little toys.

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  5. Looks like fun! Thanks for stopping by tonight.

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  6. This is such a great idea! I will definitely have to use this in the future. No one in my family likes gingerbread and it seems like such a waste to make the houses and then trash them. We did it one Christmas a few years back. I can't wait to try it out with my kids!

    -Jen Marie

    http://ramblingsbyjenmarie.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Thankyou! I know I didnt want to waste anything either.

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  7. One word: WOW! Found you on Bloggy Moms and following you everywhere! You are so creative!

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  8. This is SO cool! I am going to have to do this with my son. We have a craft day every week, and I'm always looking for new ideas! *bookmarked!!*

    Thanks for visiting & following my site
    Marianne

    SandlingAllDay.Blogspot.com

    (Bloggy Moms!)

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  9. How cute! My baby boy would love this! Thanks for stopping by and following along. I'm a new follower of your lovely blog as well. ;)

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  10. Cheers from your newest follower! This is an amazing idea. I pinned this project. Happy New Years.

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  11. Great idea for the little ones! Following you back via GFC. Thanks for sharing!

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  12. So cute and crafty. Thanks for the visit at http://icreatepurtythangs.blogspot.com. Now following you.

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  13. That's cute! I like the way you did the roof

    Sabrina
    http://thelittleowlshop.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Thankyou! I wanted to do candy cutouts but I love this too! Happy New year!

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  14. Hi Alvina! First of all, thanks for following me on my Life on the Funny Farm blog. Secondly, love you clever take on a gingerbread house! What a great idea.

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    Replies
    1. Thankyou so much! Im excited to read your blog more. Happy new Year!

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  15. What a clever idea! It turned out so cute. Great job!

    Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. Following you now as well :) Have a great weekend!

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  16. Hi
    Following you back from http://www.sweetservings.com
    thank you

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  17. Hi Veena,
    This seems like such a great project to work on with kids and you're right - the theme can be just about anything. Thank you for sharing.
    I am your newest follower from Bloggy Moms 1000+ Followers Group. I'd love it if you would stop by my blog also. Thank you.

    Karina
    http://momintheusa.blogspot.com

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    1. Thankyou! I am going to try to remember to make it again with a different theme for the various holidays. It fun. I am going to head over there right now.

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  18. Wow what a great idea! The gingerbread never lasts long anyway. I will have to save this for when I have kids- love your creativity! Just found your blog and have enjoyed looking around and getting to know you better. Hope you don't mind if I follow along!

    new follower :)
    Bonnie
    thelifeofbon.com

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    Replies
    1. Of course I dont mind! The more the merrier! Thankyou so much! Happy New Year :)

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  19. I absolutely love this project! :) I have 2 little boys who really do love candy, but I don't want them to have it, haha, so this would be a great activity for them to do. Thanks for sharing! :)

    Found you through Super Sunday Sync, hope you have a great evening! :)

    -Mia
    www.thechroniclesofchaos.com

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    1. Thankyou so much! it would be great for kids with allergies too. Happy New year

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  20. I love this idea!! I'm bookmarking it for the future!

    Stopping by from the Sunday Sync!

    Ashley
    ashleyspain.net

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  21. Super cute idea!!! Thanks for stopping by my blog! Coming over to say 'hi'!

    http://smartsavvymama.blogspot.com/

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    Replies
    1. Thankyou! I will, I love the headbands you have on there

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  22. Perfect recycled craft and nicely made.

    Thanks for your comment on my blog. Following you back.

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    Replies
    1. Thankyou! I love that its recycled materials. I try to save boxes and odds and ends for crafting. Its fun for the kids and great for a budget.

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  23. Such a cute idea! I am always looking for upcycling activities. This is a great one! Thanks for linking up!

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  24. Excellent article. Very interesting to read. I really love to read such a nice article. Thanks! keep rocking. prodotti tipici di lucca

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