Alright, to go with our Princess Daisy and Toad costumes, we are also going to make some mario karts out of cardboard! It sounds like quite the work, but I played around with the design and trust me, its not as hard as it looks! Follow along for step by step tutorial or if you prefer watching video – check out the clip at the bottom of this post!
Click here to make your own princess crown
Click here to make your own princess dress
You will need:
- 2 cardboard boxes (one large enough for you or your kid to sit inside and one smaller one)
- box cutter
- scissors
- duct tape or glue gun or both
- paint or spray paint
- paper plates x4 (4 tires)
- 2 clear plastic cups (for the exhaust)
- Felt/fabric for the straps
For a timelapse video – scroll all the way to the bottom!
step one:
Find a cardboard box that is big enough for you or your kid to sit inside. Cut off all side flaps from one end
step two:
Draw a circle on the top side and cut out using a box cutter. Make sure you or your kid can fit through this hole! Then cut the circle in half
step three:
Tape and/or glue the inside flaps to the side so they are out of the way
step four:
Roll up one of the half circles so that it is curved. We are going to use the glue gun to glue this to one edge of the hole to create the seat
step five:
Cut two small slits in the other half. This will slide into the front of the hole to create the dashboard
step six:
Glue or tape down the sides so that the dashboard stays put
step seven:
Take the two shorter side flaps that you cut off in step one and roll them up as well. Once they have a good curve, lay them beside the front of the car and determine how long you want the front to be.
step eight:
Trim off if needed and then tape the two pieces together
step nine:
Tape/Glue it to the front of the box. Take one of the longer side flaps that you cut off in step one and cut it to match the width of the front
step ten:
Bend the curved top until it reaches the bottom and tape/glue in place
continued:
Depending how curved you want this part, you can adjust the length of the curved pieces
continued:
You can also fold over the edge of the curved piece and tape it under the bottom
step eleven:
Take the last side flap and trim to match the width of the box
step twelve:
Cut this piece into two pieces – one wider and one thinner
continued:
Then cut the thinner piece in half. (ignore my uneven pieces, obviously did not do a great job of freehand cutting)
step thirteen:
Tape the two thinner pieces vertically onto the back of the box. Use them to prop up the top wider piece. This will be your spoiler.
continued:
*note, I also glued the top of the seat onto the bottom of the spoiler to give it more support
step fourteen:
We are going to also use a few side flap pieces from your second cardboard box. So go ahead and cut those off and then use one side to close off the bottom of the front end of the car.
step fifteen:
Repeat this step to close off the sides
continued:
You can use a pencil to follow along the edge of the curved piece to make it easier. Then just cut along the lines
continued:
I used a glue gun on the edges to secure the side piece without tape
step sixteen:
Using the leftover cardboard, draw an outline of a cloud. We’re going to cut this and glue it to our spoiler
continued:
repeat on the other side and you have the frame all done!
At this point, you have the base frame all done! Give yourself a pat on the back, the rest is just accessories and you can do as much or as little as you’d like!
step seventeen:
Paint the edges of paper plates to turn them into tires! You can then glue them onto the sides of the car
step eighteen:
For exhaust, simply stuff orange and black construction paper into clear plastic cups and glue onto the back of the car
step nineteen:
To make shoulder straps, cut out felt or fabric into long strips. I glued them in half to make it sturdier.
continued:
glue these straps onto the car
continued:
YAY, now the straps can keep the cart up and off the ground
Now al that’s left is for you to paint the kart! Since we are doing a big group thing and my kids are going to be toad and daisy, I painted their karts in their respective colors and logos. I also added a quick speedometer and called it a day.
and for those who likes to watch video – here’s the timelapse!
