INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Place the cardboard box the right way up. Look inside and cover
all exposed staples with strong tape.
2. Hold two opposing flaps (flaps A and B) upright; then incline
the other two flaps (flaps C and D) so that they make an angled
roof.
3. When you are happy
with the slope, mark the angle with a pencil on flaps A and B.
4. Cut the excess cardboard off flap A and B.
5. You will notice that flaps C and D are too small to cover the
roof entirely. Cut 2 cardboard panels (E) to size, so they slightly
overlap flaps C and D.
6. Fix with strong tape.
7. With a kitchen knife, cut a rectangular door in one of the sides
of the box. This will be the door. Make sure it is large enough
so that you can wriggle inside.
8. Use round plates as templates for the windows. Cut some big ones
for the children to crawl through and some smaller ones for peeking
through.
9. (OPTIONAL) Make a roof hatch. Cut a square from the roof, large
enough for poking a head through. Cover the hole with another piece
of cardboard which is a few centimetres larger on all sides, and
use strong tape to fix the top of it to the roof so it can be opened
as a hatch.
10. Cover the whole house with newspaper or lining paper using PVA
glue or wallpaper paste. Leave to dry.
11. Now for the fun bit! Decorate your playhouse. Mine was first
painted, and then decorated with strips of coloured paper. I used
triangular strips in different shades of yellow to create flowers
around the windows, and square paper pieces as roof tiles.
12. And the tricky bit… Cover with transparent plastic adhesive.
Always work with gravity; so place the house on its side, attach
the roll to the top and work downwards. Don't worry about the windows,
just work over them! Do the same with all four sides and the roof,
making sure that joins of plastic overlap slightly.
13. To finish the large windows, cut the plastic which covers the
windows from the edge of the window to the centre into triangle
shapes with a craft knife or scissors; then stick the triangles
to the inside of the house.
14. To finish the smaller windows, cut circles of plastic adhesive
a few centimetres larger than the windows, wriggle through the door
and fix the circles to the inside of the windows. Instant double
glazing! To make coloured windows, insert a circle of coloured acetate
between the two layers of plastic.
15. If there are any air bubbles in the plastic, simply prick them
with a needle and flatten with a ruler.
16. All ready… Have fun!
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