Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Dream Castle

My 5 1/2 year old son, Evan, was lamenting this morning the fact that his Medieval Playmobil figures that he got from his Christmas Advent calendar had no castle to live in. He knows that Playmobil sells several castles and his hope was that if he made a big enough disturbance that he might be rewarded with one.

* According to The Free Dictionary the verb lament means: to grieve audibly; wail. So, yes I did mean to use that specific word, as that is an accurate description of Evan's behavior. *

Like most homesteading folks, our budget is tight and spending up to $100 on a plastic castle just isn't in our budget. But, Evan was right that his medieval figures really should have a nice castle to live in. So, I took Evan out to the recycling bins and started scavenging items. We brought back in these things:

  • 1 Big sturdy corrugated box
  • 1 Small corrugated box
  • 1 Borax box
  • 1 Cereal box
  • 1 Fruit Snack box
  • 2 Small Tissue boxes
  • 1 Breadcrumb container
  • 1 Pringles can
  • 1 Paper cup

The tools I scavenged from around the house included:

  • Box cutter
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun
  • Masking tape
  • Leftover paint
  • Paint brush
  • Sponge
It took us all afternoon to design, construct and paint up our masterpiece. We had great fun talking about what Evan wanted and how to incorporate it into the design. Both Evan and McKayla helped paint the base coat and I added the details. This is what we finished with:





Pretty cool huh? Yes, it is not grey... we didn't have black or grey paint. We did have several browns so that is what we used. It has a ramp up to a second floor room, three rooms on the roof and a veranda, a drawbridge, two balconies and a secret escape shoot from the roof (the shiny silver thing rotates around so it can be hidden from view). Total cost? Less then $1. I used 1/2 a roll of masking tape and two sticks of hot glue. Everything else was found items.

Evan moved his figures in before I even finished painting it! There has already been an alien invasion on the castle from the Legos and I see many more adventures to come.

4 comments:

Christy said...

Nice castle! I'm very impressed!

Laura said...

That is fantastic!

My husband made my son a wooden one made out of simple pine wood and stain. My son has loved his for years. I'm sure yours will get a lot of use out of his. You did a great job.

Danni said...

This is incredible!! I am so impressed. I'm visiting your blog for the first time today, having followed a nice comment you left me on mine during our move to the country almost 2 weeks ago. We love, love, love Playmobil - being of German descent, my kids grew up on it (and, yes, we have one of the small medieval tower castles). But I think this was a wonderful way to spend the day with your kids and, personally, find your creation much cooler than that solid plastic thing I've got stored in my attic now!

Robin said...

Great lesson for the kids! Playmobil would be jealous of that castle!