What to do with an old cardboard box? Easy… Make a Moose Head with it
In this project, I’ll show you how to make your very own Cardboard Box Moose Head Wall Hanging (takes about 2 hours). So, let’s get started…
Step 1 – You will need
There is a good chance you already have all the bits and pieces necessary already (making this pretty much FREE to make!). Here’s a list of what you’ll need:
- Large cardboard box
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Stanley knife (or box cutter)
- Ruler
- Cutting mat
- Sellotape
- Hot glue gun
- Computer & projector (or an A4/A3 printer instead)
- Template ZIP file (download here: Cardboard-Moose-Head-Template.zip)
Step 2 – Projecting or printing the Moose template
I used my projector for this next step as it allowed me to scale up the moose to the size of the box I had, but you can use your printer if you use Poster Printing to span multiple pages (especially in Corel Draw or Illustrator in the printing preferences).
- Cut up the box into flat pieces
- Project the template files onto a wall and trace around them with a pencil
- If printing, use masking tape to loosely stick the designs over the cardboard for cutting out the design
NOTE: if printing, make sure you keep the scaling the same size so that all the pieces are the right proportionate size. If projecting, make sure ‘Actual Size’ is selected in your image viewer, for the same reasons.
Step 3 – Cut out the pieces
Use a new blade to carefully cut-out the pieces. This is the most time consuming part. Make sure you keep the blade at 90 degrees to the design to get a nice clean edge.
Step 4 – Cut out the fitting slots
For this step cut out the widths for the fitting slots according to the width of your cardboard box. The card I was using for this one was double thickness, but yours may be much narrower, so cut accordingly.
The template files use conservative estimates for the fitting slots, so you will have to offer up the pieces individually to get exactly the right fit for your size cardboard. It takes a bit of trial and error, but persist because this looks great when it’s finished.
Step 5 – Slot & glue together
Next, start at the nose end and slide in the first pieces to the middle head piece (but do the nose last). As you slot in each piece use the hot glue gun on the back only to fix in place (see last two images from this step).
Once you’ve glued all the pieces to the central main head piece, slot in the main head side pieces x2. Glue each piece with a bit of glue gun glue from the back.
Step 6 –
Mounting to the base plate & make a hanging bracket
Once you’ve slotted and glued the Moose pieces together you’ll need to slot it into the rear mounting shield. Same procedure as before, slot together and glue from behind.
Cut out a chevron shape from some spare card, wide enough to span the width of your three main head pieces that fit into the rear shield. Wrap with a bit of sellotape to reinforce it for hanging.
Cut out small pieces from the main head pieces (image 3 of this step), having marked out where they need to go with the chevron you just cut out.
Hot glue gun the chevron in place, et voila… one Cardboard Box Moose Wall Hanging!
Step 7 –
Your finished Cardboard Box Moose
Lastly, hang on the wall and enjoy!
Thanks for reading and I hope you make one for yourself 🙂
Editor’s Pick project at Instructables.com
Check out this project over at Instructables.com, where it has been featured on the homepage and made an ‘Editor’s Pick’ project.
