My Tools

Posted on January 12, 2013 by adohrenwend

One of the things that I love about working with cardboard is that you need very few tools to get started. This is my go-to, can’t live without, get happy just looking at ‘em, collection of tools that has evolved over the past two years.

The tree-pruning-looking shears are the most obscure in my kit. They’re a type of Japanese scissor used for cutting corrugated roofing. I love them because I’m more comfortable cutting with scissors than a utility knife and these are tough enough to get through triple wall cardboard without too much effort.

Other notable tools are the screwdriver and leather punch that I use for poking holes in cardboard on play days. The glue brush and glue comb are nice to have; they save on glue and make for a better bonded cardboard project. Oh, and I forgot one! How could I live without a metal ruler?

Do you have an favorite cardboard tool?

I recently read in the fabulous “2012- Celebrating The Year of Cardboard” article at the Maker Education Initiative that there are some great electrical saws that even small children can use with adult supervision. I’d be interested to try them out someday! Have you got a secret tool in your cardboard making arsenal?

Please share!

Cardboard Play Day at Musashino Place

Posted on January 7, 2013 by adohrenwend

A few photos from our first ever, open-to-the-Tokyo-public, cardboard pop-up play day.

We ran the event with just recycled cardboard, a few tools, bike power, and creative spirit.

Neighboring Ito Yokado kindly helped us bring many beautiful boxes over from their store (including the fantastic red stuff which was left over from New Year’s postcard displays) and MakeDo pieces were lent to us by the American School of Japan.

We assembled these incredible Wind-balls prior to the play day, with Tanaka Satoshi’s design plans that you can get here. Just plain fun. We’ve now got the smaller one up as a lampshade in the girls’ room and it’s gorgeous.

The highlight of the day was seeing parents and children building together. Once my Japanese teacher helped me to write a sign in Japanese inviting everyone to play freely, they all started getting to it. Little houses, castles, tunnels, trains and forts….it’s all poetry to me.

The same box on wheels that I made about 8 months ago (and flew back and forth from the US with) withstood countless laps on the concrete around the grass patch. I’m thinking we could do a great pop-up based on these alone….where to reclaim some old wheels????

Thanks to my friends from MIA, my husband (who even made dinner after we got home) and Chris B of a small lab for coming out, bearing the cold, taking pictures (many of which you see here) and wrangling cardboard with us at the end. A true labor of cardboard love! I really appreciate your support.

I’m looking forward to hosting more pop-ups and play days in 2013 so stay tuned for more info on where we’ll be next…

….of course I hope you’ll consider having a few cardboard pop-ups in your own home in the meantime?

Cardboard Costumes of 2012

Posted on November 2, 2012 by adohrenwend

As you can see from the pictures, the only thing that can keep you from smiling when you’re wearing a cardboard costume is the rain!

Adapting a sewing pattern for cardboard

Posted on October 18, 2012 by adohrenwend

It’s often handy to work from a pattern if you’re feeling squeamish about designing a headpiece for your costume from scratch. Sewing patterns are a great option if you can get your hands on an appropriate pattern for the costume you’re making. Here I’ve adapted a simple child’s hood pattern into a headpiece that is big enough to fit an adult.

1. Trace your pattern pieces onto cardboard and cut them out.

2. Texturize your cardboard by crumpling it up and twisting it, this will give your cardboard a more leather-like texture and make it easier to work with.

3. Cut thin flexible strips of strips of cardboard about 1.5 to 2 in. wide by whatever length you will need (I like boxes that are similar in weight to pizza boxes) and glue these strips one side at a time to the two pieces that you are trying to join. Regular white glue and clamps or clothespins work great for this.

4. Continue adding your cardboard seams as you put all your pattern pieces together. trim as needed.

5. Now you can begin to modify your piece for your individual costume. Here I added more pieces with the same technique by gluing thin strips of cardboard for the seam and then attaching a forehead and jaw piece.

Links to a few handy patterns suitable for costume making:

Vest pattern by the Mother Huddle

Hood pattern by Fabric link

Children’s fitted hood/hat pattern by Martha Stewart Living

Baby cowboy boots pattern by Nap Time Crafters (You could adapt this pattern for making any kind of boot-like shoe covers.)

Have you started sketching?

Posted on October 4, 2012 by adohrenwend

You haven’t started your costume yet?

Not to worry! If you’re a procrastinator like myself, just put together a few sketches (take a peek at the Pinterest board if you need some help) so you feel like you’ve done something, and start collecting cardboard like crazy until that magic moment strikes you….

Here’s a peak inside my notebook:

Idea for a bicycle costume, (that has nothing to do with any of the other costume ideas I’ve got planned.)

The box on wheels sketch that is waiting for inspiration. I know this would be perfect for taking our 1 1/2 year daughter around in for Halloween. It has great costume potential as some kind of vehicle. Any ideas?

The costume I’m working on for myself. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. I have a big, shaggy, white sheep’s wool jacket to pair with a cardboard wolf’s head.

My 3 year old daughter’s costume choice, which if I did not happen to be the ringleader of a cardboard costume challenge, I probably wouldn’t make out of cardboard. But hey, what can you do?

Other ideas I’ve been saving up….. I always wanted to go as the Chinese characters for double happiness with my husband, but it keeps getting moved to the bottom of the costume idea list…..maybe next year?

It’s not too early to start posting pictures of your process, your ideas or your cardboard pile to the Flickr pool. Sharing a little bit of your construction process can help everybody get inspired to start work on even a small part of their costume……it all adds up!

All right then, sketch, photograph, upload, collect (lots of cardboard)…

Ganbate!

(GON-BA-TAY is Japanese for Go for it!)