Crafty Friday: Spooky Castle

Today's Crafty Friday was going to be a tricked out repeat of a castle we made 3 years ago, that is, until my kids had another idea. With Halloween just around the corner, and Hotel Transylvania about to come out in theaters, my kids wanted to make Dracula's castle. So my idea of a fanciful medieval castle with climbing roses and a princess tower was replaced with dark stones, Gothic windows and bats. But I have to admit, the castle looks pretty awesome. 

Here's what you need:

We decided to go with spray pint to cover all of our boxes and cans because it's quick, but craft paint will work just as well as will cover the pieces with construction paper like we did with our old castle.

Once you've painted your pieces, start arranging them how you want. Once you've got a design you like, glue it together with hot glue [parent's, of course]. 

Then, you can start embellishing the castle. We added tissue paper brick, and silhouette windows. For instructions on how to make the tops of the spires refer to the old castle post here.

 As a finishing touch, Audrie added bats strung on fishing line, a weather vane, and spooky trees.

With that we have our spooky castle, and I can say that I've officially started [and probably finished] decorating for the season. 

xo

nessa dee

Crafty Friday: Cardboard Castle

Finn had been begging his sister to build him a castle for weeks, so in order to appease him, we made it this week’s craft project.

Here’s what you need:

a small cardboard box or shoebox
several paper towel or toilet paper tubes
construction paper in a variety of colors
markers
paint
glue and tape
scissors
paperclips or string

We started this project by arranging the box and tubes to determine the placement of each item, where the drawbridge would go and such. Once an arrangement was agreed upon [we went with a simple symmetrical setup] we began decorating the cardboard elements.

Step 1: Paint the tubes or cover them with construction paper in the color of your choice. We chose a traditional stone look by drawing the pattern on construction paper and then wrapping the tubes with the paper, securing it with tape.

Step 2: Determine the size and placement of the drawbridge, and cut out the sides and top of the bridge, leaving the bottom attached [job for Mom or Dad]. This will allow the drawbridge to open and close.

Step 3: Paint the box and drawbridge in the color of your choice.

Step 4: For the spire roofs, cut out four circles each about 4” in diameter. Cut a single line to the center of the circle and form a cone by overlapping and gluing or taping the cut edges together. Then attach each roof to the top of a tube with glue.

Step 5: Cut notches out of a strip of paper the same color as the castle and attach it to the top of the box portion with glue.

Step 6: Add chains to the drawbridge. If you’re using paperclips, make two chains and clip them to the sides of the drawbridge and doorway. If you have string, punch holes in either side of the doorway and either side of the drawbridge, and tie two pieces of string through the holes, one on each side.

Step 7: Attach each spire to the side of the castle. We used a combination of tape for a quick hold and glue for long term durability.

Step 8: Gather up your brave knights, noble steeds and fair maidens, and let the imagination flow.

Happy Crafting!

Nessa Dee