DIY Christmas gift-- Cardboard Car

November 7, 2006 6:25 AM

I'd like to make some basic cardboard cars for my boyfriend's twin toddlers for Christmas. I'm a teeny bit crafty but not "handy" so no power tools. Any ideas or inspiration for me?

I'm not positive what size the box should be.
But i'm planning on reinforcing with duct tape and covering with sticky shelf liner and I have some pretty cool silver paint. Maybe do some silly pin striping on one, flames on another. Fake headlights and tail lights too.

I was thinking some straps for their shouldersso they dont have to hold it and i'd make them little steering wheels but I dont kknow if that is feasible.

I'd love to see any examples for inspiration or any advice is extremely welcome.

Thanks--

posted by beccaj to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

You might get some inspiration from Mr. McGroovy's Box Rivets...apparently he was a school teacher who got really into building box toys for his kids, and created a special kind of fastener that makes building things really easy.

It's funny, I stumbled across that site a few days ago and thought "Hmm, that's cool, but I don't have any kids so what possible use could it be to me?" and then along comes this question!
posted by bcwinters at 6:44 AM on November 7, 2006

right now is a great time to be doing this. Tomorrow millions of people are going to be throwing away their corex political yard signs. The stuff is basically a plastic cardboard box panel. The box rivets bcwinters mentioned are great and supereasy to use, but you can also use a hot glue gun to make rivets. If you melt through (or poke through, if you are using cardboard) the top panel and the outside layer of the inside panel with the tip of the gun and then fill with glue, you will create a pretty sturdy, long-lasting glue rivet.

As far as design, I would just sketch around a bit. Curves are harder to do than straight lines and you can do a lot of design with racing stripes (colored gaffer's tape) and stickers (color printer and full-sheet labels).
posted by jmgorman at 7:09 AM on November 7, 2006

Response by poster: bcwinters- thanks! i ordered a bunch already- that castle?? How could I not?!

And thanks for the great idea about the election signs. I'm going to see what I can do about getting a few of those!
posted by beccaj at 8:21 AM on November 7, 2006