mollymoo

Cardboard Toys “make it more piratey mom”

I love cardboard toys, toys you can make with or for your kids. This new ‘make a pirate ship’ project started out as a simple enough idea – a boat for Molly to play out her Pirate Captain & Crew adventures on – and of course, as always, I got carried away with the detail. Two evenings later, covered in glue and paint, the ship was pushed down the slipway and launched with no great fanfair! no champagne and cheering crowds, just a glass of orange juice and a cocktail sausage!

The pirate ship could of course have been a hollowed out milk carton with a lollipop stick but I wanted to create something Molly would engage with for even longer.

She loves it, played with it for hours yesterday, and because it’s not the archetypal black with skull and crossbone pirate ship she thought it ok to welcome a group of giddy Polly Pockets onboard for a spin around the bay too. Result.

I found her under the kitchen chair at one stage…. the pirates secret lair.

A happy little person, fuelled by her own imagination
…and all it cost me was my time :)

Read on to see all the step by step photos & the free hull template

I used a flexicurve to draw the sides, base and stern on mounting board

Mounting board cutting complete, my knuckles hurt.

I used the glue gun and masking tape to mold & hold the template together

Next step – used the stick from one of Molly’s pinwheels for the mast and flagpole (don’t tell) and gave the hull one layer of papier-mache

Molly painted the hull – with some matt wall emulsion

The sail plan. I used some screenprinted wool felt for colour drama! punched the holes with a normal desk paper punch, and tied to craftstick crossbars

The Bow – gotta have some buttons :)

and when she was gone to bed I added some more detail – cardboard portholes, dents made with a matchstick (in truth they covered up & tidied up the edges!)

The Wheel – very important for steering away from craggy shores… (cardboard & matchsticks)

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happy person, fuelled by her own imagination – and all it cost me was my time :)

click here for the free downloadable ship pattern

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This craft was inspired by our Easter cinema outing to see the brilliant “Pirates In an Adventure with Scientists Band of Misfits” movie xx

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