How many greeting cards have made their way through your closet throughout your life time? And how many of them have you have actually re-opened at some point? Let’s be honest, you are never going to go back and read them. Still, there is something that keeps you from throwing these cute little pieces of memory away. There is surely more to them then just paper, they are designed to be kept. This up-cycle project will allow you to give a new purpose to your old greeting cards, while having a great time with your kids!
What you need
A selection of old greeting cards
6 toilet paper roll insides (or 2 kitchen roll insides)
2 sheets of paper A4
A bowl
Cardboard
Scissors
Stapler
Ruler
Pencil/pen
Tape
Glue
Cardboard
Paper tissue
1. Castle walls
Pick four cards of the same size and staple them together, as shown in the picture below.
2. Battlements:
Draw the castle top features with a pencil. I personally decided to make the battlements 3.5 cm wide and 2.5 cm long, but feel free to adjust the measures to your taste.
Once you’ve done this, cut along the outline you’ve drawn.
3. Door
Draw the outline of your door on one of the sides of your castle, right at the centre. Once again, feel free to make it as wide as you wish, and make your kids get creative about the shape as well!
4. Floor
Cut a piece of cardboard the size of your castle perimeter and tape the two pieces together.
5. Turrets
Tape the three toilet paper insides together (or use two kitchen roll insides instead). Then top the turret with a nice sloping roof (more on this below, at point 6).
Once you’ve done this twice, you can decorate the turrets using pieces of old greeting cards.
Roof
Draw a circle on a sheet of A4 paper. Roughly sketch what looks to you like the centre and draw a straight line from that point to the circumference. Then cut through and roll the two ends on top of each other with your fingers. Then staple te two pieces together, as shown in the picture.
6. Drawbridge
Every mediaval castle needs its drawbridge. It will protect the castle from invaders and help your little princess walk in and out. All you need is one small piece of cardboard (the size of the door or a bit bigger) and some paper tissue.
Attach the piece of cardboard to the bottom of the castle, using tape or glue. Create two small strings by twisting two pieces of tissue paper; then tape one extremity of the strings to the bridge, and the other one to the wall, as shown below.
Now put all the pieces together… and let your princess join the ball!
Guest post by Oriana Lauria
