So, my absolute, without a doubt, favorite decoration at our Airplane Party was the cardboard airplane photo booth! Our lil men love cardboard boxes, they play with them all the time! So, these planes were a total hit!
Wanna make some? Here's what we did:
Wanna make some? Here's what we did:
First, I took three boxes, made sure that the top was open and taped every edge to make sure that it was secure. (The smallest is a diaper box, medium is a moving box, and the large was a carseat box.) So, they looked like this...
At this point, you may have to battle off your children so they don't destroy the boxes you just reinforced! :) My kids were going nuts that they weren't allowed to play with these boxes that I had right in front of them. Mwahaha
Next, I looked at the airplanes I found on Probably Actually, and hand drew on another piece of cardboard all of the pieces that I would need. I cut them all out, put together the tail piece, and added foil baking containers to the front of the bigger boxes to give them some dimension. :) Then, I laid all of the pieces out on an old tarp in the garage to be painted! It isn't in the picture, but don't forget the circle for the propeller as well.
Next, I looked at the airplanes I found on Probably Actually, and hand drew on another piece of cardboard all of the pieces that I would need. I cut them all out, put together the tail piece, and added foil baking containers to the front of the bigger boxes to give them some dimension. :) Then, I laid all of the pieces out on an old tarp in the garage to be painted! It isn't in the picture, but don't forget the circle for the propeller as well.
I just used tiny bottles of craft paint that cost less than a dollar. I only had enough to do one coat on each plane. So, you could totally see the writing and pictures underneath the paint, but it didn't really bother me because I knew they would get trashed after the party anyway! :) I was just looking for that splash of color.
After they were done being painted, I just put all of the pieces together with packing tape.
For the wings, I attached tape to the bottom side first, so that it would have a little bit of hold. Then, I lifted the wings up to an upward 45-degree angle. (Would that be a 135-degree angle? Geometry was a long time ago...) I taped them tightly, so that when I let go the wings held perfectly at a 90-degree angle. If you try to just tape it at 90-degrees, it will fall when you let go. Do the same thing for the tail piece.
For the propeller, I hot glued and taped it on. The foil baking containers made it a little bit harder to keep the propellers held on. So, you may want to just skip that part!
And, you are done! You should have something like this...
After they were done being painted, I just put all of the pieces together with packing tape.
For the wings, I attached tape to the bottom side first, so that it would have a little bit of hold. Then, I lifted the wings up to an upward 45-degree angle. (Would that be a 135-degree angle? Geometry was a long time ago...) I taped them tightly, so that when I let go the wings held perfectly at a 90-degree angle. If you try to just tape it at 90-degrees, it will fall when you let go. Do the same thing for the tail piece.
For the propeller, I hot glued and taped it on. The foil baking containers made it a little bit harder to keep the propellers held on. So, you may want to just skip that part!
And, you are done! You should have something like this...
The boys were really excited when they finally got to play in them, and all of the kids at the party had some fun in them too! :)
Not to mention, we got some really cute pictures!
Not to mention, we got some really cute pictures!
What do y'all think? What other fun things have you made out of cardboard boxes? Let me know in the comments below!