Baby DIY: Cardboard Cabin

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Idk when this turned into a blog about cardboard, but here’s the cabin tutorial I promised!

To make this cardboard cabin, you need:
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-a corrugated cardboard box
-cutting mat, ruler, pencil, exacto knife/scissors, tape

Use whatever size box is best for the intended occupant. For Gwen’s cabin I used the box a carseat was shipped in, but I didn’t take pictures of its construction so I made a scale model.
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All the techniques I used can be applied to bigger boxes (or smaller ones if you need to house some mice).
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If your box has been used, cut open and/or remove any tape or packing labels that are holding it shut, and open up all the flaps.

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Cut the four flaps off the bottom of the box and set aside. If you are using an exacto knife be sure to do this on a cutting mat so you don’t trash your table/floor.

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Measure the width of the inside of the short flaps on the top of the box and mark outer edge at the midpoint. Draw a line from the two lower corners of the flap to this marked midpoint.

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Cut along the lines so that the short flaps are now triangles. These will form the gables on either side of the cabin.

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Tape the sides of long flaps to the edge of the gables to form the bottom half of the roof.

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To complete the roof, use the long flaps you cut from the bottom of the box. Leaving a 1/8″ gap between them, tape the two flaps together along the length.

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Fold the taped-together flaps over the top of the cabin so that they overlap the lower half of the roof. The gap between the two pieces of cardboard allows it to fold easily and form the ridge. Tape the sides of the roof piece to the gables. For the big cabin I used the cut off short flaps to make a third roof piece but it was purely for aesthetic reasons (I wanted each roof tier to be the same size) and isn’t necessary.

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To make a door (or windows), mark where you want them to be on the inside of the box and cut them out.

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Now that you’ve built your cabin, you can decorate it! Im an idiot so I used an ultra-fine sharpie to draw woodgrain all over Gwen’s, which took a million years and is basically invisible, so maybe don’t do that. But you could draw a less pointless pattern with markers, paint it, or cover it with paper.
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I tried to lure Gwen into the cabin for pictures by staging it all nice with fur rugs and pillows and toys but NO DICE. She still doesn’t care to go inside and it doesn’t help that she has a cold today that is making her very grumpy. Someday though. SOMEDAY.
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3 Replies to “Baby DIY: Cardboard Cabin”

  1. Come on Gwen, boxes are so much fun! What about if you cut a window in the side? Ev loved opening and closing the shutters and playing peekaboo in window I made on her carseat box house. I also cut a cat flap in the back and she soon learnt how to duck down and crawl through it.

    1. There is a window on the side opposite the door! I took the last picture through it when I was trying to lure her in, but she just ende dup crawling around the outside of the house to get to me.

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