This will be my last post about castles for a long, long time. I don’t know if the kids have lost interest by now, (they haven’t been in the office for a whole week) but I sure have. Still, a sense of completism compels me to make this one last entry.

But Andrew, I’ve imagined hearing you say for the past week, What if I don’t have a surplus of paper towel tubes laying around? I’m a sane person. I throw that stuff out instead of hoarding it.

Rest easy mis amigos, here is how to make towers for your castles even if you don’t have a cardboard tube surplus (or are working on a scale that makes tubes impractical or inappropriate-looking).

This technique works with construction paper just as well as it does with cardboard boxes, but I’m going to use cardboard because I like it better. If you would like a cardboard box for yourself, I will send you one. All you have to do is order something from brightermindsmedia.com and in about a week or so, you will get a brand-new box delivered right to your door. Sure, there will be a game or book or something inside, but you can just set that aside. The important thing is that you’ve got the box.

Way back when we were first building our castle, we cut all the folding flaps from the box, leaving just a 4-sided square. Save those flaps. We’re going to use all eight of them now. Start by folding one in half, the long way. In my experience the best way to fold thick materials like cardboard is to use a ruler. Line the ruler up where you want to fold and bend upwards against the ruler. You can also use the edge of a table or counter top to fold against, but it’s harder to control exactly where you put the fold.

Then fold one of the sides in half again, this time in the opposite direction. While we’re at it, we might as well fold the other seven flaps just like it.

Then take two of the folded flaps and tape them together. I used duct tape, which is always a favorite of mine. Earlier this week I used duct tape to patch a ruptured hose in my car. It’s truly a wonder-adhesive. But I digress. If you don’t have tape handy, you can make your own by spreading glue on a scrap piece of paper and sticking it down. Make sure that the both sides have the folds towards you.

The next step is to measure the height of your castle and cut from the edge of the thin side of the cardboard to the first fold. Do this on both sides. Straighten out the top parts (i.e. un-fold them) so that they are straight again. In a minute you’ll tape them together, forming a square, but first, let’s cut some crenelations into the top. Actually, you can cut crenelations (Man, I love that word) into the cardboard at any time, but this is the last point at which it’ll be easy.

Tape the top flaps together and glue to the corners of your castle.

And there you have a castle with square corners.

I promise, next time we’ll do something a lot simpler.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 7th, 2007 at 10:07 am and is filed under crafts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.