I have met some of the neatest women through our travels.  And one of those women who ranks at the tops is my dear friend, Edwina Bucci.  She is a fun and creative woman, who also has shared with me in my journey to buy less and re-use more.  Eddie is so devoted to recycling that last year she kept separating her recycled materials even though she would see the garbage collectors dump the recycling right in with the other garbage when they collected.  She just kept holding out hope that maybe it would make a difference!

So I wasn’t surprised when I saw her pictures of a house she had made for her daughter from an old refrigerator box.  It turned out so adorable, I asked if she would write about it for this blog.  It would be a great project for anyone, but especially for those of us who live overseas and the idea of paying for a playhouse you will only use for a few months doesn’t seem like the best use of money.  Eddie gave a wonderful step-by-step description along with pictures and also got pictures from her friend who made one too to show the creativity variety that can go along with a project like this.  Thanks for sharing, Eddie.

While discussing with a friend of mine the outrageous price of a plastic playhouse in Italy, we decided to just build one. Seriously, how hard could it really be? Kids can get hours of entertainment out of sheets and chairs building forts so just imagine the fun with a cardboard box with some life added to it! What I didn’t expect was the amount of fun I myself would have also. My friend lives in Rome so we shared photos of our progress. To start off, she recommended that I simply go across the street to the electronic store and ask for an empty refrigerator box. Even better is that while walking my dog one evening, there was an empty one right next to the garbage can. It was dark outside already so you can imagine the reaction of the guy who was also walking his dog when he witnessed me and my little shih-tzu trying to empty out all the Styrofoam and plastic wrap from a huge box next to the dumpster. The box was huge and even dragging it back to the apartment was a feat but we accomplished it. Here is where the fun begins.

It’s a relatively inexpensive project and most of the materials required you probably already have lying around your house. For this house, I used the following:
1 – a ton of construction paper. I used as many light colors as possible.
2 – glue sticks. I believe I used between 2 – 3 to complete everything.
3 – packing tape. I used clear and the brown colored one.
4 – scissors
5 – ruler or something with a straight edge
6 – these were extras but I had a spare set of curtains that we no longer used so I cut them apart to make the curtains for her house.
7 – paint and brushes
8 – for the door I went to the supermarket and bought this plastic type board that costs roughly 2 euro.
9 – a serrated knife (which I found easier than the scissors to cut through the cardboard)

I didn’t do these in any particular order (aside from the establishing the structure). In fact I would often start one thing and then begin another before completing the prior mainly because I would get bored and just needed change. Also because I would run out of materials for one step so I would start another until I had a chance to run to the store.

STEP ONE: I cut the box along one edge as well as the ends so I could lay the cardboard completely flat. I then raised the sides so to that the four sides of the cardboard now account for 2 side walls and 2 sides for the roof. There is no bottom. I would suggest doing this part on a carpet so the sides wont slip on the floor surface. The trickiest part of this was manipulating the ends (the front and back of the house) because these pieces overlapped one another. Its almost like wrapping a gift where you need to close off the ends, but with thick cardboard its not so easy. I used a TON of tape. Don’t worry about how ugly it might look now as you’ll eventually cover everything up with construction paper anyway.

STEP TWO: I cut out a large portion of one end of the house for the door. I had to be very careful here though because of the way the ends were closed, if you cut too high then the house is most likely to cave in. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I used a TON of tape. I also cut out two windows on each side of the house and used tape to cover the edges to avoid any papercuts and to just clean it up.

STEP THREE: This next step was probably my favorite but most tedious part. The roof. I used a plastic container for the round edges and made one template which I traced over and over again for each strip. I also used extra cardboard laying around to cut long thin strips and placed them underneath each row of “shingles” to give it a 3-D effect before laying the next row down. I also made sure to boldly outline each shingle so you could easily distinguish them. I used a combination of glue and tape (wrapped to make it double-sided) to lay down the roof shingles and I used only tape to lay down the cardboard strips.

STEP FOUR: This was my husband’s idea and probably one of the most sensible ones. I traced two large circles on one side of the roof using a cake pan to outline it. I then cut them out using the serrated knife. This allows for more “peek-a-boos” while playing but more importantly, it allows for more light to enter.

STEP FIVE: I attached the plastic material type door to the front. I just used tape and even cut out some pieces of the plastic beforehand to use as hinges to prevent the wear and tear from opening and closing the door.

THE REST: Super easy from here.
For the interior I filled the space with construction paper. I just used lighter colors so she could color and draw where she wanted. I cut out strips for window borders. I used tape and glue for all of this. FYI – before adding the cut out pieces for the curtains, I taped and glued them to the windows and then taped the border on top of that.

For the backdrop I painted a fireplace. I tried my best to copy the one from her favorite book “Goodnight Moon” (given to us from the generous Crispins which we read every night. She always says “hot” now when she sees the fire so I thought this would be a good way for her to interact with the house. I also added some extra photos we had lying around of her and added them above the fireplace to simulate a mantle.

For the ceiling I painted and cut out stars from old scrap paper I found lying around and glued them to the ceiling. “Stars” were a new word for her so she was excited. I also painted a moon.

For the backside of the house I cut strips of construction paper and made an attic window. For the bottom portion I just painted grass, a few flowers and a few bricks. I then just glued and taped it to the backside.

For the sides I just made some flowers using construction paper. I also cut out pieces of brick from the cardboard and then glued brown paper over it which I then attached to the house. I wanted to give it a 3-D effect but I think it was more work than its worth. You can simply just use the construction paper. I also cut out flowers from old scrapping paper someone had given me. Even gift wrapping paper would work if it had a fun design. I also cut out grass using green construction paper.

For the door I purchased it already red. I just added some strips of black construction paper to give it some character. I covered the inside of the door using construction paper and painted “Vivienne’s Place” and painted a window.

When everything was finished, I used clear tape to smooth out all edges and sides because I was just so worried about paper cuts. After a good month of use I can tell that the curtains are going to have a hard time keeping up but I can’t figure out a better way to keep them attached. I didn’t want to use staples or any other small objects because Vivi is still so small and I don’t want to worry about her putting things into her mouth. Other than that, I had a blast building it and Vivi is having a great time playing in it. Best part is that I wont feel guilty about leaving it behind once the season is over!

Pictures of Eddie’s friend’s house: