Cardboard Costumes

As I've said before, I love to wear costumes, make costumes, or dream up costumes. There is something fun about turning yourself into something you're not. God has blessed me with a great imagination, and I LOVE to put it to use.

For the past few days, I spent hours working on turning my family into a work of cardboard art. Ever since I made cardboard box cars for Zechariah's birthday, I've been raiding my cardboard stash and making things. It's so much fun! And it's cheap! We made a costume for each member of the family, and I didn't pay a single penny. The boxes were old and used, some a little broken and bent, but they still worked perfectly for what I had planned. The only thing that cost money was the paint I used, and it was all old colors I happened to have lying around the house.


There's nothing more fun, than when it's free fun. That means no guilt, or strings attached, and if it doesn't work out the way you wanted, who cares? You didn't invest anything but a little time.

The boys in my family are very into Nintendo DS. Each of my kids is allowed 30 minutes of computer time a day, and mostly that time gets spent playing on the DS. Their favorite games are Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, etc...


The hard part about their costumes was the fact they couldn't pretend to play themselves. It was too difficult to reach, and Zech got very frustrated trying.


For Ariel I chose a cardboard book. She spends hours and hours in her room each day reading books. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it has words on the page, she'll read it. Through the years she's read many different book series, and right now her favorite is probably The Babysitter's Club.



My costume was very appropriate, but not very well thought through. I was trying to make it easier on myself during the designing time, and I neglected to put arm holes in the box. I figured it wouldn't matter and I could just do things with my hands down low. I couldn't even pretend to use my camera and push the button! I hardly wore the costume at all, maybe 5 minutes tops. It was too hard to do anything with your arms pinned down to the side. If you're going to design a costume out of a box, make arm holes! They are an absolute must! I did really like how everything else turned out on my camera. I especially loved my over sized camera strap. The costume was perfect for me, except for the fact I couldn't use my real camera because my arms wouldn't budge!



I think my favorite costume was my husbands, a Rubik's cube. When we were painting it, I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but the finished product was so fun. I thought he looked so great in it, and I loved it on him!


It's amazing how you can turn a little bit of cardboard into a masterpiece of fun. The ideas are endless!