Phew, I did it, and the crowd loved the women's Purim party decor.....they said it was better than ever! Truthfully I also felt like I moved up a rung, as the look was much cleaner and in a way, simpler, than previous years when my creations may have been a bit more all over the place. And yes, thanks to that huge white cardboard box I've been saving for months (that held our new dining table light fixture) a few white cardboard castles were born, of course together with many other items as well, which I'll be sharing with you in the next few days. But first, the castle in the clouds, which is totally do-able in time for Purim, and really makes such a huge statement! I'm about to re-install the castles in my dining room, to enjoy this shabbat, and to not have to figure out where to put them! Okay, lets get started!
You'll Need:
- a white cardboard box, or several, depending on the size of your desired castle(s)
- metallic patterned contact paper
- sparkly craft foam
- a few bamboo skewers
- a black sharpie
- metallic silver cardboard for the stars, mine are the tops from aluminum foil pans!
- an illustration of a castle you'd like to emulate, or just copy mine
How To:
- Plan the size of your castle according to the location. Mine were to fit on a panel that is 130cm wide and 179cm tall, which is quite large!
- Sketch your castle on a piece of paper to plan according to the size of your cardboard and the final desired size.
- Depending on if you'll need to transport the castle, you may want to plan to make it in sections!
- If your box has graphics on it, not to worry, your castle will only benefit from a second layer where necessary, it gives it dimension!
- With a pencil and a ruler, sketch your castle onto the box, cut it out, and lines near the edge to give it definition everywhere, with a black marker.
- Now for the fun part, add details, like roofs, windows and balconies or horizontal bands of stone using something colorful and possibly metallic.
- Add some more details with your black sharpie, like rows of stone here and there.
- NOW, if you'd like to make more, or like in my case even a partial castle still in the clouds, trace around your first one! Phew, a huge time saver.
- Make flags from craft foam or heavy weight paper to add to the tops of the towers.
- If you like, make a few rows of clouds to sit under your castle, with complete instructions here.
- Voila, you did it!
If you are short on time, why not make a castle peeking out from the clouds, or like in my case make this your second one! Whatever you choose to do, don't stress, don't expect perfection, and enjoy. There were so many aspects of this stage decor that were not perfect to my eye, and yet no one noticed, they just loved it! A BIG lesson to keep in mind, regarding that need for perfection!
Happy Purim crafting!
