Cardboard Heart Locket

When my daughter was about 18 months old, we went on a trip to an island off of Tokyo's coast called Shikinejima. It was the off season, most restaurants were closed and we were sleeping in a tent.

We ended up doing a lot of shopping at convenience stores, eating meals of: apples, Oreos, cans of hot cocoa, and cans of tuna fish, and were even gifted a fresh bag of assorted seafood from a local fisherman, which we hesitantly attempted to cook over a fire... Maybe you've had a similarly strange almost-camping experience?

One of the shop keepers, a little old man who was so enamored with our daughter and her blond hair, kindly gave her a red plastic 3D heart pendant which had a light inside that would blink on and off.

It was one of those toys with sticking power, and became well-worn and well-loved over the next year and a half- that is until the battery died.

When I saw this cardboard heart ornament on Pinterest by A Little Learning for 2, it gave me the idea for making a low tech replacement for the blinking heart pendant.

My daughter approved. She loves being able to open and close the locket. We're now working together to make something similar as a Valentine's Day present for the grandparents. Definitely not afraid to share the cardboard love....

Info on adding cardboard beads to your locket here.

Make a Cardboard Toolbox

Two years ago I found a beautiful old wooden sheep shearing box at Camberwell Market during a trip to Australia with my family.

It was beautifully worn and even had tiny little strands of wool still caught in some of the corners. I quickly filled it up with my favorite sewing tools and supplies, and have enjoyed toting it around immensely ever since.

I have long thought about trying to replicate the design in cardboard for my cardboard tools. When I started working with banana boxes last year I realized I had found a possible solution.

I spent several weeks in late December and early January creating a variety of designs and assembly techniques that incorporated the pre-made features from the banana box like the pre-punched handholds.

I truly believe that this (essentially paper) toolbox could last a lifetime before being recycled.  It's easy to build, strong, durable, and functional. Maybe someone will buy mine at a flea market some day. Wouldn't that be a dream! (Although maybe now that I've built about 10 extras, I might get on that sooner than later...)

The act of constructing a cardboard toolbox instantly transforms you from a passive Cardboard Aficionado into an energized Cardboard Maker- be prepared for this dynamic life change!

You'll need:

• Approx. 30 minutes of your time

• 1 banana box

• cutting tool

• ruler

• pencil

• large binder clips or small clamps

• white glue (I prefer low VOC eco glue

My Materials

This is it! A sampler of the things that I use other than post-consumer cardboard, paper bags and tubes that I find on recycling day.

• Glue: low VOC white glue for cardboard, and homemade wheat paste for decoupage.

• Origami and chiyogami paper

• Washi paper (This is a strong handmade Japanese paper that comes in large sheets)

• Washi tape (watch out for inferior brands that don't stick!)

• 100% Recycled paper string and cord

• Recycled paper tape

Turning straw into gold...

These are the materials that I love for their beauty (Washi paper rivals fabric in my opinion), their recycle-ability (I adhere to one rule: everything that I make must be recycle-able), their effectiveness (Time is precious so why use stuff that doesn't work?) and their endless possibility (Keep reading the blog for more on that).

Have any insights? Secret recipes? (I'd love to hear them!)

Cardboard Finger Puppet Book

This Christmas present  was a team project. I got lots of guidance while I was sewing the facial features on "wiggle worm." My daughter also wrote the story for the book, which strangely enough changes every time you read it... you can catch the "text" below.

Stitch your wiggle worm together from a fabric scrap.

Cut holes in the middle of the pages of a cardboard book. Cardboard book how to here. Tape your worm in place.

Glue a cardboard page over top, to secure the "wiggle worm."

Looking a little smug after the photo shoot isn't he?

Cardboard Tinkering Toy Series: Cardboard Tube Gun

Part cross bow, part rubber band gun, part cardboard tube rocket, we affectionately refer to this device as the "snake shooter."

You'll need two strong cardboard tubes like the kind that aluminum foil comes on plus one more that fits over the two joined tubes, something like a poster tube might work.

Join the two narrower tubes with masking tape.

Add decorative tape.

Attach rubber band.

Cut notches on the sides of the larger tube segment.

Watch out tube heads!

Cardboard Tinkering Toy: Cardboard and Cork Flip Car

This car is SO much fun!

It really makes my girls giggle because it seems like it has its own personality. We've had a great time tinkering with ramps, and there was also a failed zig-zag chute, but the girls also love attaching a string and chasing after each.

This project is pretty intuitive once you gather all the tools and materials together. A few pointers:

* Use large paperclips that have fewer kinks to straighten out.

* Try to cut your corks as evenly as possible.

* You can make the car without the hinge in the middle, but if you do make the hinge, be sure to leave a gap between the hinging parts.

I hope you try this one out, it truly is a toy for all ages!

Cardboard Mermaid Costume

There wasn't much time during the frenetic week leading up to Halloween to share the details of the cardboard mermaid costume with you, so those of you who have been wondering what happened to the pile of brown cardboard fish scales, well here they are in technicolor:

The mermaid costume was my favorite of the cardboard costumes I made for my family and myself because it involved a whole different approach to working with cardboard- threading together many cardboard pieces to create a kind of flexible cardboard skin. The costume is very securely held together, so one of the problems, in fact, was that is was a little hard for my daughter to move around in.

Remember the sage advice I passed on to you at the beginning of the challenge about creating a costume that you could sit down in? Well, we had a few problems in that department....

You can see the back of the costume here, which was covered with a cape for warmth, as well as to hide the paper cords. It's possible to create a costume that is seamless, but because we had to take my daughter in and out of the costume a lot, I didn't work too hard to make it all fit together perfectly. I'm thinking of adapting this costume into a downloadable PDF someday, so I'm going to keep expanding on some of the new ideas I tried while making the cardboard mermaid gown.

We painted the scales with regular watercolors, which worked beautifully and gave the costume soft, romantic coloring. I loved the fact that every scale was a little bit different because of the blending of the blues,  greens and yellows.

The great thing was that the costume was well loved, and my daughter just beamed on Halloween night, scooting carefully around from house to house with her sister Little Red Riding Hood.

Cardboard Costume Challenge Results

[slideshow_deploy id=2839] (Notes: Because all of the costumes were essentially made of cardboard elements mixed with other media, I eliminated the "hybrid" category. There were no bicycle costume entries.)

Adults:

Edward Westerhuis: I am the Ram! Cardboardia: Cardboard Jack-o-lantern (Special Mention) Leelada via Flickr: Cardboard Cowboys

Kids:

wrnking via Flickr: Cardboard Knight Rachel and Tom Morgan: Archery Knight

Kid Made:

Leo: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Sid: Star Wars Storm Trooper (Special Mention) Lego Block

You all have me pondering the many new ideas you put out there with your incredible costumes! I'm thinking about metallic cardboard, felt on cardboard, fringed cardboard, cardboard horns, and wearable cardboard houses and cars.

So much inspiration! I hope you feel the same way! The level of creativity that turned out for the challenge was so overwhelming, I hope everyone feels a great sense of accomplishment from the costumes they created. Tomorrow I'll be posting some reflections about the challenge and welcome your suggestions for next year.

Deep bows to all our judges and to MakeDo Japan for donating MakeDo kits to all the winners of the contest!

Cardboard Costumes of 2012

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!

Cardboard Cowboys by Leelada via Flickr

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Cardboard Wolf

I finished the wolf mask!

Just in time for some shopping and a little adventure to the Kawasaki Halloween event!

[slideshow_deploy id=2761]

Sadly, we had to come home early and didn't get to see the parade, just the costume contest. We thought our costumes were pretty clever until we saw the Rocky Horror Christmas group costume. Amazing!

Halloween may be a relatively new holiday in Japan, but in the land of anime and cosplay, dressing up is taken pretty seriously.

5 minute Cardboard Petticoat

While I realize not every costume can be best created out of cardboard, I wanted to inspire you with a little idea for some covert cardboard.

At one point I tried to construct a full blown petticoat out of cardboard, but after more than one failure, I thought there must be a better way.....

Surely this is a trick that every mother should have up their sleeve? A kind of Julie Andrews move akin to pulling the drapes off the wall and stitching up a dress, except you'll pull a strip of cardboard out of your recycling and make an ever-puffy twirly skirt.....hopefully while singing?

Just staples and a long strip of cardboard is all you need. Make sure that the corrugations in the cardboard run parallel to the skirt's hem and you'll get a smoother contour.

Some cardboard texture ideas for you...

1. Cardboard spirals are great for cardboard wigs, antennas, or scary egg carton eyeballs that fall out of your glasses.

2. Egg cartons and crates make great bumps, horns, tentacles and nostrils for animal costumes.

3. Braided cardboard, Rapunzel or Boy George are just a few options to get you started.

4. Picket fences can create bones, gladiator bracelets, etc.

5. Corrugated strands separated reveal those cool crimpy parts if you're trying to add new textures.

6. Fan folded cardboard holds it's shape well for bows, fins and wings.

How to make a cardboard mustache

In case you need a cardboard mustache to go with your cardboard lederhosen...

This is pretty straight forward, but I just wanted to remind you to make sure that your cardboard corrugation channels run in the direction that you are cutting your whiskers. I scrunched up the mustache a bit and glued it down to give it a fuller shape, but you can also just glue on more cardboard whiskers one piece at a time to fill in any gaps.

Last I glued a square of cardboard to the back and strung a sturdy rubber band through the corrugation channels, painted my mustache with basic tempera, (you could even use watercolors) and....Voila. Cardboard mustache.

Want a peak at some of the world's most incredible facial hair? Click the link to check out Dave Mead's Magnificent Specimens photo essay. I promise it will make you smile.

Mr. Pumpkin Head

[stop motion animation: The Cardboard Collective family / music: our friends Lullatone]

I wanted to squeeze one little Halloween decoration project in before we roll up our sleeves for the Cardboard Costume Challenge on October 1st!

SO, here's a project that is inspired by two of my favorite Japanese artists Tatsuya Kameyama  and Atsuko Nakagawa who go by the collective name tupera tupera.

We got the work x create books by tupera tupera for my daughter when she was about 2 years old, and they were the best sticker books ever. You can still buy them in the US through Muji's website here. (FYI I have no affiliation with Muji, just a fan)

These sticker books were so beautifully designed, I couldn't stop looking at them myself, and so I got to thinking about making something that the girls could use to change the faces over and over again.

About a year ago, I came up with a project called the Cardboard Marquee that basically utilizes this same concept for making two pieces of corrugated cardboard "stick" to each other. You might have missed it since I had about 2 followers then (neither of which was my mom BTW).....

To make this project you're going to need to secure plenty of pieces of corrugated cardboard that "link up." You need to test your cardboard pieces for compatibility unless you have cardboard from identical boxes.

Go for the strongest cardboard with the widest corrugations that you can find (and still cut through with the tools that you have on hand.)

This is basically a cardboard version of a felt-board, so don't expect these pieces to have a death grip. They are perfect for little kids to play with, but sometimes the flutes/corrugations get a little flat, so if that happens, I suggest poking a chopstick or skewer inside them to help reshape the channels.

Get your big piece of cardboard and strip one side of the paper covering the corrugation. This will take a little work, and I usually use a chopstick to help pry up the paper. When you're done, cut out and paint your pumpkin shape.

To make the facial features, I first cut them out of magazine pages and other recycled papers that I have and then glue them onto the cardboard. It's very important that you always have everything lined up with your cardboard channels vertically, so you don't get say, a lazy eye, unless that's what you're going for.

Strip the paper off the back of your facial features and you're ready for a truly dynamic and fun Halloween decoration for young and old!

Wohooo!

Cardboard Office Supplies Holder

Can you tell I'm on an organizing bend? Why shouldn't MOM get a cardboard thing-a-ma-jig every now and then?

Well, here's my newest treasure - a place to stick some of the sharp pointy tools I use so I can keep them away from little, "I know what scissors can do" hands.

It's also a way to use up a lot of scrap cardboard bits that you (or I) might have lying around.

I'd love to show you my gigantic pile of cardboard scrap that I keep moving around to different corners of my apartment, but I'm just not there yet...I know it's become very vogue these days to blog about the imperfections in your life and prove that everything doesn't always look like a well curated Pinterest board. But honestly, isn't that the best part about blogging? The fact that I'm typing with a towel on my head right now, but your seeing all this great cardboard stuff?

I pulled a yellow kiwi box out of my stash for this project and then cut it down to size, carving out two little handles on the sides. I find that a serrated knife does the best job for rounding corners, as I've never been able to cut circles in heavy corrugated cardboard with a utility knife.

You can mash up the cardboard on the inside anyway you like. We've got a random kind of Keith Haring thing going on in there, but it would be cool to make a more structured zig-zag or circular pattern too.

If you do something with this idea, I'd love to see your work! I think there are a lot of places to go with this compressed cardboard in a frame concept. It's super strong! Please send me your photos so we can feature you here on The Cardboard Collective!

OK, today is recycling day so I've GOT to get out there and see what else I can haul back and stuff into that empty space in my closet!

Finding Free Cardboard

Since we've been back in the U.S. on a summer holiday trip, I've had to start all over sourcing cardboard. In Tokyo I was hauling everything by bike and bike trailer and I had developed relationships with several places in my local community.

I was also able to scavenge from my neighbor's cardboard piles weekly on recycling day. It was pretty easy to get whatever kind of cardboard I wanted.

I haven't had time for a lot of cardboard projects while we've been in Michigan this summer. One thing I have been doing is scouting all kinds of exotic grades of cardboard.

There are some great materials out there... but before I tell you how you can get your hands on this stuff, let me first brief you on a few reasons why it's not as easy to get free cardboard as it used to be...

Exhibit A: Cheung Yan, (the woman on the left) CEO and power house of Nine Dragons Paper Industries. She just happens to be one of the richest self-made female billionaires in the world.

She is also partly responsible for the growing trade of U.S. waste paper and cardboard that is shipped to China to be made into cardboard boxes for export.  Yan's story is quite remarkable, and she's a big reason why even your local grocery store is baling their cardboard and selling it for a profit.

Exhibit B: Cardboard Compactor / Baler and Cardboard Bales. When I talked to the Produce Manager at my local mid-sized grocery store, he told me that cardboard bales sell for $75 a piece, and that their store produces about 2 bales on an average day. During peak holiday seasons they produce as many as 4 or 5 cardboard bales each day. That's over $300 dollars worth. Wow!

With that in mind, here are my top 3 sources for cardboard BEFORE it gets to the baler:

1. Befriend a manager or two in the produce department of your favorite grocery store.  They all use some kind of cardboard that they will probably be willing to set aside for you if you speak with them directly and explain what you're doing with the cardboard. This is my favorite place to score banana boxes, kiwi boxes, and the über fabulous watermelon boxes (I'll be posting about those next week.)

2. Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, or your local "everything" store. Call ahead or stop at Customer Service first to find out when and how they break their cardboard down. The more specific you are about what kind of cardboard you're looking for the better. (Banana boxes, large boxes without holes, etc.)

I learned that Wal-Mart stocks at night and does all their re-shelving and cardboard processing then, so it's best to ask or call after 10pm at night and have them hold boxes for you until the next morning. They kindly held a shopping cart full of boxes for me in the area near their bathrooms at the back.

Target told me that the only time they had boxes available was Thursday mornings at 8am. Apparently this is when they restock and break all of their boxes down, and the only time to get any cardboard from their store.

If you get the cold shoulder, try talking to someone who stocks on the floor, they might be more willing to help you, particularly if you are looking for a small quantity of boxes. Persistence is key.

3. Any Local business that is small enough to pay for a cardboard recycling service is more likely to hand over their cardboard to you. It also helps if you are a regular patron of their business.

Deliveries are usually made according to a weekly schedule and cardboard has to be broken down right after delivery because of space issues. Call ahead to find out when is the best time to pick up the cardboard and if it works with your schedule.

ALWAYS Be ready explain what you are doing with the cardboard, how much you need and what size box you are looking for.

More Ideas:

* FYI Cardboard dumpster diving is illegal, mostly because waste management companies do not want to be held liable for any injuries that could take place during the "diving" part. Your best bet is to intercept the cardboard before (it's also cleaner that way) it gets to the dumpster, by talking to a business manager at the storefront responsible for the cardboard-only dumpster.

* Freecycle and Craigslist are other great options. Sign up and post a request for free cardboard. You can also peruse the "free" section or do a search looking for people giving away free cardboard boxes.

So that's my advice for cardboard collecting. I hope you get out there and start putting all this bounty to good use.

But first I need your help!

What's your secret for scoring recycled cardboard?

What kind of cardboard is available where you live?

I'm hoping to turn this post into a static resource page along with information on tools and materials, so I'd really love to hear from you in the comment section!

Update: March 2013

Some time tested ideas from Readers:

• Costco
• Sam's Club
• Independent Bicycle Retail Shops
• Independent Car Auto Body Shops

Giant Cardboard Cubes and the Adjacent Possible

In the spirit of modeling creativity and inspiring play, I wanted to share with you a little bit about some of the "play" that I engage in here in my cardboard lab/home.

I made these giant cardboard cubes after spending an hour or so playing with a stack of cardboard banana boxes that I had collected.

Each cube is made from the tops and bottoms of two banana boxes and two cam straps.

Remember this stage in your kids? Everything down the rabbit hole...

We discovered that the cube has these pockets that are the perfect place for Isis to keep her favorite board books. (We have to keep our other books out of reach for now, otherwise we would spend all of our days re-shelving books instead of reading them.)

Last year I read the book, "Where Good Ideas Come From", by Steven Johnson and started thinking about how I could become more innovative in my day-to-day life.

In Where Good Ideas Come From, Johnson talks about an idea called "the adjacent possible." The concept goes something like this:  We seldom have fully formed ideas or creative solutions that come to us in a moment of brilliance. These ideas build up as slow hunches that we compile over time.

So in effect, it's all the little experiences that lead us to those  genius ideas.

I imagine these adjacent experiences as stepping-stones. You can't get to that big idea, without first leaping from little idea to little idea.

I'm trying to spend more time stepping away from the computer and actually playing and experimenting with cardboard as my way of building a path towards new ideas and designs in cardboard.

Future Parkour enthusiast?

I have to say, it's a lot of fun.

I get so much joy out of just playing with cardboard, with no obvious intent, just for the joy of it. Sometimes it comes of nothing, and sometimes you get giant cardboard cubes; a happy accident.

As Steven Johnson says, "Chance favors the connected mind."......

So now I invite you to comment!

What materials do you like to play and experiment with as an adult? Fabric, wood, flour, clay, fiber, dye, paper?

What machines do you work on and repair? bikes, sewing machine, cars, cameras, computers? (This year I replaced the hard drive on this very iMac that I write the blog on. Talk about empowering! You have to check out iFixit.com.)

Do you let yourself drift off into that elementary school aged daze, where nothing mattered beyond the sandbox or your paper and paste pot?

Daruma-san

Daruma dolls are a tradition in Japan having to do with casting a wish, setting a goal, or pursuing a dream. It's been about 6 months since I started The Cardboard Collective and it's taken me that long to straighten out a few ideas in my head about where I want to go with my cardboard passions. With that in mind, I purchased a Daruma doll at Jindiaji's festival this year, filled in the pupil of his right eye, inscribed my goal on the bottom of the doll, and put him on the bookshelf in our living room (as did Electra). (When I hopefully achieve my goal, it is tradition to return the Daruma to the temple where it was purchased for ceremonial burning.)

After spending a few days sitting around the living room I realized that having a  Daruma doll in your house is a bit like planting your Kabuki-makeup-wearing kick-boxing coach in the corner with an eternal (one-eyed) look that says "Get out there Tiger." You can almost hear the throaty Clint Eastwood like growl seeping out. "Wow," is all I can say. It's really kept me on top of my game!

One last note about Darumas; (you can learn more about their history and how they are made here) guess what they're made out of? ... Recycled Cardboard.