Today, Gabby had a fever and cough, so I had to keep her home from school. She still had her usual energy capacity, so I needed to find something to keep us occupied. I didn't want to take her out anywhere while she was sick, so we stayed in and did some arts and crafts.
This cardboard house was something we started doing months ago, on a rainy day. We started out building a doll house from cardboard, and it turned out more elaborate than we thought. It's just been sitting around lately, though. Today, we decided to add some Christmas spirit to it.
Whenever we create stuff for the cardboard house, we use recycled cardboard boxes and craft supplies that are around the house. It allows us to be creative with what we have. Today, we added a chimney and fireplace to hang the stockings. We also made a paper Christmas tree. Check out the steps for how I made the fireplace below ⬇️
✂__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Materials:
- Black Permanent Marker
- Thin cardboard (like from a snack box)
- A paper towel roll
- Glue gun
- Scissors
- Red marker
- Tape
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __✂
1.) First I cut a hole in the top of the roof of the cardboard house. Then I stuck in the paper towel roll.
I use a thin cardboard snack box. It is easier to cut with scissors.
2.) I cut out a rectangle that will eventually be folded in half to make the top and back of the fireplace.
3.) I traced the paper towel roll on the top half and cut out the circle.
4.) I cut off side of the box, which conveniently already had two folds in it. Then I cut that piece in half.
5.) I used the pre-exising folds from the Cheez-its box as glue tabs to glue to the top of the fireplace.
6.) I pulled the paper towel roll through the top of the fireplace while gluing/taping the fireplace to the floor. I used black marker to draw stones on a strip of cardboard, to create a ledge, and glued it to the bottom.
I added a tiny electric candle inside to make it look like a fire is glowing.
7.) I cut out another thin strip of cardboard to make the mantel. I glued this on the top of the fireplace. I drew and colored some cardboard stockings to glue onto the mantel.
Now Santa can come down the chimney! 🎅
Some photos of our DIY activities from today:
Hung up some mistletoe -- it was a sticker that I still had from a long time ago.
I framed a scenic photo from an old brochure I had lying around the house.
