Over the years I have found that my medium of choice is simple, inexpensive cardboard and hot glue.  Using hot glue on unpainted cardboard is easy, dries fast, and results in an amazingly strong and sturdy costume.  It’s up to you how much to embellish afterward.  I cover my creation with spray paint as it gives an even coat and dries quickly.  Then I look around for unusual items that will add that special, authentic touch.  Remember to do all of your hot glue before you paint; it will not bond painted pieces strongly.

Here are three of our recent cardboard costume creations:

Robot

What You’ll Need:

• Large cardboard box
• Small cardboard box
• Utility knife
• Hot glue gun
• Silver spray paint
  

Optional Accessories:

• Silver dryer venting
• Black cable organizer
• 2 small, rectangular gift boxes
• Battery-operated mini Christmas lights
• Upholstery nails/thumbtacks
• Antenna
• Mini drain covers

How to Make it:

1. Cut off bottom of large box and cut out holes for head and arms.
2. For small box, cut off one side for face opening and one side for neck opening.  Check fit of costume, and glue head box onto body.  (Optional:  Glue small gift boxes onto front and back for 3-D circuit board “effect”)
3. Spray paint costume and let it dry completely.
4. Look around the house for accessories!  Use silver dryer venting for arms.  Add black cable organizer tubes for accents around the base and head opening, and inside the arms to hold the metal dryer venting in place and prevent scratches.  Upholstery nails or thumbtacks look like rivets (poke into cardboard with a dab of glue).  Print out pictures of circuit boards or other graphics for accents.  A special touch is to raid your Christmas wreath for battery operated mini-lights to have your circuit boards flash.  We put the lights inside the gift boxes so that the wiring was contained and out of the way.  Just poke holes through the cardboard for the lights.  This makes it easy to see your little one at night and I’m all for added safety.

Here’s a slideshow with more details for the cardboard robot costume. 

Monster Truck

What You’ll Need:

• Newspaper or large sheets of paper for pattern (download our pattern here)
• Large cardboard box (appliance size works best or several smaller ones)
• Utility knife
• Hot glue
• 2 cans spray paint (black and your child’s favorite color)
• Silver paint
• Small paint brush
• 4 large plastic drink bottles – check the bottoms to see if they look like “wheels”
• 4 screws
• 4 nuts
• 5 ft. Velcro (1 1/2 “ thick)
• White and black construction paper

Optional Accessories:

• Foam pipe insulation
• Mirrors
• Reflectors
• Flame stickers

How to Make it:

Truck Pattern (click to download PDF)

1. Sketch the outline of the truck pattern on newspaper and check length for your child.  Make sure width of truck is large enough for child’s torso and “sunroof” opening is large enough for child’s head to fit through. To download a PDF of our pattern click right here. Adjust size of pattern as needed.
2. Transfer the pattern to cardboard and cut out with a utility knife.  Cut out side windows and a sunroof, but do not cut out holes for front and back windows.
3. Fold the pieces to shape the truck and hot glue together.
4. Spray paint truck with whatever color your child likes and let it dry completely.
5. Make front and back “windows” using black and white construction paper.
6. For the wheels, cut off the bottoms of large drink containers.
7. Using silver paint and a small paint brush, paint the inside, center of the “wheels” to create the hubcaps. Let dry completely.
8. Using black spray paint, paint the inside of the wheels to create the tires. (Note: you’ll be spraying black over the silver paint on the inside of the bottle, but on the outside, you’ll see the silver hubcap and black tires).
9. Attach the wheels to the truck with a small screw and a nut.
10. To support the costume on your child’s shoulders, glue a strip of Velcro along the inside front and back windows of the truck.  Stick two long pieces of Velcro “suspenders” between them.
11. Again, look around the house for accessories!  Print out some auto logos and glue them on.  Use pipe insulation tubes for the bumpers and roll bars.  Hot glue will melt the insulation foam, so put the glue on the cardboard first and then attach the foam.  We purchased mirrors, reflectors and flames from the auto parts aisle of our local discount store, but you could use bicycle reflectors or colored construction paper.   For some nighttime color and “tricked-out” special effects, tape glow necklaces/sticks along the inside bottom of the truck.

SpongeBob SquarePants

(with thanks to my neighbor Jesse)

What You’ll Need:

• Three pieces of yellow poster board
• White poster board or construction paper for decoration
• Green paint
• Craft paint (Green, brown, black, pink, and red)
• Sponge
• Circular foam stamps in two sizes
• Large rectangular cardboard box
• Utility knife
• Glue

How to Make It:

1. Add “texture” to the three yellow poster boards using green paint, sponge and foam stamps.
2. Using white poster board and craft paints, decorate one yellow poster board as the front of SpongeBob and one as the back of him.
3. Measure location of “eyes” from the top of the poster board to match up with your child’s and cut them out.
4. Cut open holes in the side of the box for arms.
5. Cut third yellow poster board to fit on the sides and top of the box, making sure to leave the arm holes uncovered.
6. Glue all three poster boards on box.  Cover top and sides of box with pieces from third piece of poster board.
7. Cut out eye holes in box to match the eye holes in the poster board.
8. There you have it.  Or as Spongebob would say “Oh barnacles Squidward! Remember, licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets!”

Here’s a slideshow with more details for the cardboard robot costume. 

Why do we refuse help?  I thought my Rooster and I could move our entire house into two PODS without any problem.  Who could possibly need MORE than two PODS, or help filling them?  We are a one item in, one item out family.  We reduce, reuse, recycle and donate like the dickens…

But if it weren’t for the amazing support of all the Hens and the Roosters, the house we sold (within three hours of listing!) would NOT have closed on time today.   They came through the house last weekend like a small army and got us all packed up.  Even with all of that help, moving is a big deal, and we could not have stayed sane without some essential items.

So, here are the top five things we needed to help with the move:

1. The Five Hens, who are the friends you wait a lifetime for and will push to help you even when you say no.  Friends that will haul out trash, run for lunch, watch all seven kids, cook you soup for the week, take the plants (not the goldfish), smile and laugh at the end of an exhaustive day and leave wanting to help with the move at the other side.

2. Scotch Brand tape by 3m, which didn’t peel off the boxes within a day like the cheap stuff.   With Scotch, we used less and it was twice as good.

3. Sharpie band markers.  I may have marked more boxes the dreaded “miscellaneous” than not, but at least they are all labeled, and no pens last like Sharpies.

4. Reused moving boxes and recycled moving paper.  They are everywhere, in great shape and cheap. In addition to those we got from friends, we got over 100 moving boxes and unlimited paper in excellent condition for only $18.00 on Craigslist.

5. PODS, for storage and moving combined.  While we are blessed our house sold so quickly in this economy, the closing date on our new house is still uncertain, which means we have to do something with all of our stuff.  PODS allowed us to pack our belongings, store them indefinitely, and then will transport them conveniently to our new location (soon, hopefully) for a reasonable, flat fee.  Customer service was great, timing was prompt and professional, and storage is at a secure location.

5a. A great place to stay when you don’t have a new house to go to yet.  We get to stay with my sister and brother, and the chicks, no kidding, keep saying it is even better than the Broadmoor! And they are right, which makes the transition so much easier, so make sure you have a Plan B in case Plan A doesn’t work out quite as planned.

So, readers, have any other tips or essentials for a successful move?  If so, we would love to hear them.  And thanks again to the Five Hens (plus Roosters), who knew I needed help when I didn’t know it myself.  I am eager to help whoever is next— as long as they stay nearby.

My little guy and I just had a blast making playdough together. It’s a fun, easy activity that everybody can help with, is easy to clean up, and has an end result you can enjoy for a long time. And it’s cheap to make! You will probably have to experiment with colors a bit. My son wanted orange, and we had to add a lot of yellow before it didn’t look like a big spaghetti dinner followed by a stomach virus. I got my recipe from Discovery Toys a long time ago.

Homemade Playdough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
3 dessert spoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food coloring (optional)

Mix all ingredients together. Add a few drops of food coloring if you like. Keep mixing until all lumps have been blended (I use a whisk). Put the mix in a saucepan (or just mix it in the saucepan) and cook it very slowly over medium heat. Stir continuously, and when the dough starts to come away from the side of the pan, take it off the heat. Remove the playdough from the pan (ADULTS DO THIS- IT IS HOT!) Let it cool a bit on plastic wrap, then have fun!