Day 2 of Cardboard: Canada Post Play Mailbox

Welcome to Day 2 of Cardboard Crafts!  It's also Day 2 of March Break!

Today we are going to make a Canada Post Mailbox from a diaper box.  

Hubby and I love making things with cardboard.  We have way too many unused diaper boxes so when I asked him to make the kids a mailbox, he got on it right away.  This is what it looked like when he was done. The kids were thrilled.

This is what it looked like when I got my hands on it. I covered it with red poster board and taped it all over.   I let the kids play with it for a while but I felt like it needed a little something more.

I glued a picture of the Canada Post logo to the sides of the box.  I found the picture on google, enlarged it, and cut it out.  Now it looks like a Canada Post mailbox!!

The front opens up just like a mailbox and the back has a flap which allows us to take out what they put in. At first, it was just paper going in.  By the end of the week, we found lego, bowling pins, and a football.

So... how does this mailbox stack up against the real thing?  Well... we don't have to wait in line.

 Seems like our mail gets delivered quicker too! 

I hope you enjoyed this craft.  Come back tomorrow for Day 3 of Cardboard!

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Day 1 of Cardboard: Milk and Juice Boxes

This week is March Break..  a week when the kiddies are out of school and the malls and museums are jam packed.  I don't have to worry about that yet since none of my kids are in school, but we are definitely going to take it easy this week.   In honour of March Break, I am going to be posting 1 cardboard craft a day. 

Today we are going to make cardboard milk and juices boxes.  These are so easy to make and so much stronger than the play sets that we bought from Toys R Us.   Joshie and Bunny have so much imagination and they loved helping me make it.  

Skill level:  Easy!

Time:  10-15 minutes

Tools Required:  Old cereal box, X-acto knife, ruler, pencil, printer, tape, glue

First, head over to Mirkwood Designs to download a free template.  I used the template called "Milk Carton Box".    I found the current template to be too small so I enlarged mine before printing it out.   If you are using a cereal box, make sure you trace and score the template on the outside of the box so that when you fold the box, the brown cardboard becomes the outside.  Hope that makes sense!   (If not, head over here and take a peek at how I built a puffy box out of cardboard.)

I wrote the words O.J. and Milk onto the cardboard but you can decorate it any way you want.  Joshie coloured it with crayons and then I used packing tape to keep the crayon from rubbing off.  I also used some duct tape at the top because I didn't have any glue left in my glue gun.  All in all, this was a very easy project!

How about some OJ with your breakfast?

Or some chocolate milk with your snack?

Have fun making these with your kids!  Come back tomorrow for Day 2 of Cardboard!

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Just Hanging Out...

Wow... this week FLEW by...  I can't believe we're already at the weekend and I haven't written a post since Monday.   Normally I try to write a post when the kiddies are napping but this week, I napped with Joshie instead.   Although he's super hyper most of the day, he's always very quiet when it's time for Baby Bunny to take a nap.  Then, we get some quiet one on one time to do a puzzle, we read in bed for about half an hour, and then we snooze together.  It's true what they say about sleeping kids... they always look like babies when their eyes are closed and they are snuggled up next to you.  Most times, I usually fall asleep before he does, but I always wake up first.  I always hope for at least 5 minutes of sleep-watching before I have to go get Bunny.

I'm trying to capture all of those "pre-school" moments as in 6 short months, my baby will be heading off to school.  So my goal is to make sure that we have as much fun between now and then.

We went to the Toronto Zoo on Wednesday and the kids had a blast.  I was exhausted - all that fresh air makes me sleepy.  Kids have no idea how lucky they are... they get to sleep on the way home, while I have to keep my lids peeled open.

We checked out some different areas this time but made sure we saw their favourites:  the penguins, gorillas, and the lions.

 

Can't forget the fishies!

I love this chair.  So did the kids.  Joshie tried to take a nap on it.  Then Bunny tried too.  Jokers!

 

We forgot to see the baby polar bear but we saw them last time so they didn't miss them.  We did get to see some kangaroos at Joshie's request along with some jelly fish.  Very cool!

Hmm... this post wasn't supposed to be about the Zoo...   Regardless of how one feels about the zoo, it's a great learning place for kids.  It's one thing to learn by watching a video on the internet and it's another to see these animals with your own two eyes.

Next week is March Break.  This pretty much means that everything will be very busy in the city so maybe I will have time to do some crafting and sewing?   I hope so!

Enjoy the start of March Break!  I'm off to bed so I can muster up the energy to drive Joshie to his last Little Farmer's Class at the Riverdale Farm.  I think we are learning about sheep...