The second installment in the DIY cardboard box series is a simple shop front. My toddler absolutely loves playing shops and delivering us an odd assortment of imaginary food so this was the perfect project to make her! Needless to say, she is thrilled with her new shop!
You’ll Need:
3.5 large cardboard boxes
Packing Tape
Craft Knife
Any additional decorations (you could go as crazy as you like here, but I like to keep a cardboard box looking like a cardboard box)
ONE
Slice open down the side of the largest box and open it out. Tape up all the slits on each of the flaps so its as tall as it can possibly be. We’ll call this box1.
TWO
Use box2 as the base, open it up and place on the floor, use a marker to draw where box1 will sit on top of it. The harder the angles, the easier it will be for the box to free stand. This base will act as an anchor and will mean it wont fall over! Cut these lines out with your craft knife.
THREE
Tape box 1 and 2 together at right angles. Use lots and lots of tape, the stronger the better! The key to making this a success it to make your base nice and stable so it doesn’t fall down on top of your child all the time! If space is an issue and you need to be able to put it away afterwards you might want to skip the base step so you can fold it up easily afterward. Personally, I prefer the base and will sacrifice our limited space while the obsession and interest is here.
FOUR
Cut open your windows and go crazy with decorations!
I added a little shelf to my main window. I did this by making a triangle with the piece of “window” that I cut out and taped it on each side of the front wall. I also added a payment window and used a small box3 to make a little “table” that my daughters cash register can sit on. Other ideas could include shutter windows, a verandah, shelves, food bins and anything else you can think of!
OUR GROCERY STORY STONES
If you’re like me and always looking for ways you can make your dollar go further, you can transform handy stones into play groceries! My toddlers imagination is just kicking into gear and she loves her little food stones! She asks which ones I would like to buy, scans them and rings them up on her till, tells me how much money I owe her, packs them in a bag for me and waits until I pretend to enjoy eating them!
I didn’t actually realise these stones were a “thing” until I did a quick Pinterest search after writing this post, it seems there is no such thing as an original idea! If you like the stones, you can incorporate them into telling stories too, they’re called “story stones” and they are adorable!
Thanks for reading this DIY cardboard shop front post! If you love making things from the humble cardboard box, check out my DIY Kids Changing Room.
What are your favourite box ideas? Leave a comment and let me know!
