Cardboard Creatures: Contemporary Cardboard Craft Projects for the Home, Celebrations, and Gifts

By Claude Jeantet

Repurpose your cardboard boxes to make ingenious and amusing animal objects and furniture—from a moose head wall trophy to a hedgehog pencil pot.

Cardboard has never been so much fun—just look what you can make with it! So before you bin that box, take a look at the clever ideas in this exciting new book of cardboard animal projects.

Light yet durable, cardboard is ideal to create on-trend animal-themed ornaments and decorative furniture that will delight both children and adults alike.

Projects include mouse and tortoise storage boxes, a wolf pencil case, an elephant plant pot, even a Noah’s Ark clock, an owl lampshade, a zoo chess set, cat storage drawers, a penguin side table, a lion doll’s bed and more!

All of the cardboard craft techniques are explained, with easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions and templates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781446366325

Book preview

Useful decorative items

Mouse and tortoise

Original boxes for storing milk teeth…

SUPPLIES

•  Flexible cardboard: 39 × 4cm (15¹⁄2x1¹⁄2in)

•  Kraft micro: 30 × 22cm (12 × 8³⁄4in)

•  Black micro: 10 × 10cm (4 × 4in)

•  White micro: 5 × 5cm (2 × 2in)

•  0.6 cardboard: 10 × 10cm (4 × 4in)

1

The mouse box: Make a spiral with a 38 × 1cm (15 × ³⁄8in) strip of flexible cardboard.

Cut out a 3 × 15cm (1¹⁄4 × 6in) rectangle from kraft micro and glue it around the spiral with the grooves facing out. Cut out a 4.5cm(1³⁄4in) circle from kraft micro and glue it to the bottom of the box.

Make the lid using the same method as for the box in a slightly larger size: the strip should be 39 × 0.5cm (15¹⁄2 × ¹⁄4in) and the rectangle 1.5 × 16cm (⁵⁄8 × 6¹⁄4in). Attach a circle of kraft micro to the top.

2

Head: Draw and cut out two ears from kraft micro (A). Fold and glue them to the top of the lid.

Make a cone for the snout from a 0.5 × 30cm (¹⁄4  x 12in) strip of kraft micro.

Make a small cone for the nose with a strip of black micro. Glue the nose onto the snout, and glue the finished nose onto the lid.

Cut out and glue on small strips of black micro for the whiskers, two rectangles of white micro for the teeth and two black pieces of confetti for the eyes.

3

The tortoise box and lid: These are made based using the same method as the mouse box.

4

Head: Cut out two 2.7 × 1.7cm (2 × 1¹⁄2 in) rectangles of 0.6 cardboard. Glue together then cut them at an angle (Diagram 1). Glue in place two pieces of black confetti for eyes, two black spots for nostrils and a fine black strip for the mouth. Glue the head onto the box (Diagram 2)

5

Legs and tail: Draw and cut out two front legs (B), two back legs (C) and the tail (D) from 0.6 cardboard. Glue them onto the box (Diagram 3).

Draw and cut out the scales in kraft micro and glue them onto the lid (Diagram 3).

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

Wolf

A decorative pencil box that will look great on any desk...

SUPPLIES

•  0.6 cardboard: 30 × 30cm (12 × 12in)

•  0.3 cardboard: 5 × 5cm (2 × 2in)

•  Flexible cardboard: 18 × 8cm (7 × 3¹⁄8in)

•  Thick white paper: 11 × 3cm