Artist are makers, and artists are human; they procrastinate when the art work gets difficult. And then there are family obligations to take care of. So this month the opportunity arose to take gift wrap to a new level!

On a recent visit, the youngest granddaughter and I made a very rudimentary cardboard castle for some last minute creative fun. It was a great project that went home with Summer Elise, and now takes up too much space in her playroom. This activity inspired my latest maker project: another cardboard castle to contain a few of her birthday gifts!

I spent a happy couple of days in my studio “building” a more elaborate castle! This one is fit for a princess about to be seven years old! So much fun!

This cardboard castle has color, decorative elements, and various non-cardboard embellishments. There are shells, feathers, and some shiny bits of this & that! There is plastic film “glass” in some windows, the doors open and close, and there is even a sort of landscaping about the base!

I enclosed three small presents and tied the front closed with a lovely ribbon. What is more, the castle made it safely to its destination. We parked in Bainbridge to walk on to the Seattle ferry, to be met for our ride to Kent. I am so glad that cardboard is lightweight!

So in order to take gift wrap to a new level, I made this fancy cardboard castle “box” for a few small birthday gifts for our seven year old granddaughter! So much more fun than yard work, or resolving difficulties with more ambitious art projects…