DIY Box Houses

 DIY Box Houses

Holidays and weekends can sometimes be long and finding things to keep the kids entertained can become a full time job. Let's be honest, in today's economy and the rising living cost, it's impossible to go out and do something everyday. 

Lucky for us, we live by the ocean, so we make beach days a regular thing. But there are those days where you need to entertain them at home. 

My kids love playing house, and I saw some great ideas on Pinterest. I decided to tackle this specific one - building box houses.

I decided to make this a collaborate effort and involve the kids in the process. Needless to say, they absolutely loved it, and it also kept them quite busy. 

Materials needed:

Large box

Extra pieces of cardboard

Paint

Paintbrushes

Boxcutter

Glue gun

Since I wanted to build two houses, so each of the girls could have their own, I needed two large boxes. I bought these from a local packaging store. 

I started off by cutting a door for each house and some windows on the side, using the boxcutter. 

Taking out all the leftover paint we had around the house, I allowed the girls to choose the colors they wanted to paint their houses. 

I let them paint the houses themselves, helping out here and there to make sure the whole box was covered. They chose to paint the doors and roofs of their houses different colors than the house. They were also adamant that their houses should have their names on, so I added those for them afterwards.

I also bought two large square pieces of box which I planned on using for the roof. The kids painted these as well and we left it all to dry. 

After the paint was dry, I cut the top of the boxes into triangular shapes and used the glue gun to glue the sides together to form a roof. 

I then glued the two houses together and cut a door on the inside so they girls would be able to move from the one house to the other with ease. Using the glue gun, I glued the larger square boxes over the top so the roof would be closed. 

Daddy dearest decided to make them some doorknobs, using some of the leftover pieces of wood he had in the garage. 

Although the houses might not be the most aesthetically pleasing, the kids loved them. So we carried them inside so they could start setting up house. 

They decorated the inside of their houses with blankets, pillows and teddies. They even ended up eating in their houses and we had a hard time convincing them that they could not sleep in them as well. 

The houses were a huge hit and they girl thoroughly enjoyed playing in them for months, once again proving that you do not need to break the bank to keep your kids happy and entertained. 

Let me know what you think of these homemade box houses and share your own ideas and creations!