NEVER BORED WITH CARDBOARD

When I was a kid we didn’t have tons of money for art supplies, but my parents showed genius in utilizing whatever we had around the house for fun projects. One of my favorite things to use was cardboard. I’d repurpose a shoe box for an art project or make a cool fort out of several huge boxes with my five younger brothers (this was a daily event in my house). There wasn’t enough cardboard to go around!

To this day, cardboard remains a staple in my crafty house. I encourage you to save your boxes and make something wonderful out of them the next time you’re feeling inspired. Because, trust me, you’re never bored with cardboard.

 

CARDBOARD CREATURE BOWL AND VASE

Lately I’ve been putting different cardboard shapes together just to see what happens, and, well, these just sort of happened. Give these projects a try using whatever image you like—the octopus I provided, a picture you drew, a photo of your pet, whatever!

YOU’LL NEED

FOR BOTH

■ Pencil

■ Cardboard

■ X-ACTO knife

■ Tape

■ Elmer’s glue

■ Pages from an old phone book

■ Cup of water

■ 1-inch paintbrush

■ 11” x 17” black-and-white image of your choice (Optional: to find the octopus image shown in the photos.)

■ Mod Podge or Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish

HERE’S HOW

FOR THE BOWL

 1  Using the patterns provided, trace and cut out the hexagonal base and 6 side pieces from the cardboard.

 2  Tape the pieces together so they create the shape of the bowl.

 3  Apply Elmer’s glue where the edges of your sides meet so that the bowl is nice and sturdy.

 4  Cut phone book pages into 3-inch-wide strips.

 5  Using Elmer’s glue that has been watered down just a tiny bit so it’s easy to spread with the paintbrush, adhere the strips to the entire bowl. Apply several layers of strips to give the vessel strength, then let the glue dry.

 6  Cut out the cool image you chose.

 7  Using your paintbrush, apply glue to the back of the image, and then position it in the center of your bowl.

 8  Coat the entire bowl in the Mod Podge or clear coat to make it even more sturdy and give it a nice finish.

HERE’S HOW

FOR THE VASE

 1  Using the patterns provided, trace and cut out the pentagonal base pattern and 5 side pieces from your cardboard.

 2  Lightly score a line where the top of each vase piece tapers in. Turn the pieces over and score a line where the bottom of each vase piece is at its widest. This will make it easy to bend the pieces to form the vase shape.

 3  Follow steps 3 through 8 for making the Cardboard Creature Bowl.

TIP

Since this cardboard vase is light, you might want to put something heavy (like some marbles) in the bottom to keep it from toppling over.