Skip to Content (Press Enter) Skip to Footer (Press Enter)

How to Make a Cardboard Box Summer Garden

Level
Beginner
Time
1 hour
Budget
10 - 30

As the weather starts to warm up, we all love to spend time in our gardens and outside spaces. This simple project for children is a great way to bring the outside in, learn some new crafting skills and be able to enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors, whatever weather British summertime brings!

Building your own summer garden is a perfect way to spend an afternoon. Once you've made your garden, explore a huge selection projects available, both in store at Hobbycraft and in our Ideas Hub, that you can make to bring your gardens to life!

Project by Hobbycraft Artisan Kristel Long

You will need

Is $ 12.00 , was $ 22.00

Quantity: 1

Subtotal

Is $ 12.00 , was $ 22.00

Is N/A

Quantity: 1

Subtotal

Is N/A

Is $ 3.49 , was $ 4.49

Quantity: 1

Subtotal

Is $ 3.49 , was $ 4.49

Is N/A

Quantity: 1

Subtotal

Is N/A

Is $ 1.49 , was $ 3.49

Quantity: 1

Subtotal

Is $ 1.49 , was $ 3.49

Is $ 11.00

Quantity: 1

Subtotal

Is $ 11.00

You’ve viewed 2 of 6 products

You’ve viewed 4 of 6 products

Total:

How to make

Step 1: Preparing your box

Safety note: Cardboard can be hard to cut and scissors can be sharp, to be safe adult supervision may be required.

Make sure that the two long parts of the bottom of your box are showing from the inside, this will give a nice flat and even surface to decorate inside your box. Use tape to secure the base of your cardboard box so it looks like the picture shown.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step1.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 1 (continued) Preparing your box:

Put some glue on the folded parts of the supports. One folded piece will be stuck to the sign and the other to the cardboard box. Use tape to secure everything while the glue dries. The sign and the support pieces together will look like this.

Your box is now ready to decorate.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step7.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 2: Painting

Using the light blue paint, paint the inside of your box. You will need to paint the two sides, the back, the top and the sign blue to create the sky. Allow to dry.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step8.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 3: Creating the grass

On some green card draw the outline of some grass shapes and cut out enough pieces of card to cover the bottom and sides of your box. If you prefer, instead of cutting grass out of your card, why not cut “Hill” shapes; hills will be easier and quicker to cut. Once you've cut your pieces, glue them inside your box.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step9.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 3 (continued) Creating the grass:

Take the dark green plush foam sheets and lay on the base of your garden. Use scissors to trim the sheets down that need to be cut to fit. You will be covering the whole base of the garden. Glue the pieces down and leave everything to dry.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step10.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 4 (Continued) Making the tree trunk:

Take the three tall tubes and put glue along the sides and hold together to form the trunk. Use an elastic band to hold them in place as they dry.

Your tree trunk will look like this.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step-14.png.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 5: Making the branches and the leaves

First of all, with the brown card cut out three branch shapes. Small, medium and large works well.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step-15.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 5 (continued): Making the branches and the leaves

Using the remaining leaves glue them together to form a chain. You will need to make three different lengths e.g. some five leaves, four leaves and three leaves long.

They will look like this.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step18.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 6: Putting the tree together

Take your tree trunk and glue to the back of the box so the branches and the trunk look like one whole tree.

Allow to dry.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step19.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 6 (continued): Putting the tree together

Keep sticking chains of leaves to the top of the box in semi circle layers, using all the longest chains then the middle size and finishing with the shortest until your tree looks like this.

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step21.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 7: Finishing touches

Using the foam letters spell out and stick 'My Garden' across the top of the sign on your box. You could even use the letters to spell out your name to make it personal to you!

how-to-make-a-cardboard-box-summer-garden_step22.jpg?sw=680&q=85
Step 7 (continued) Finishing touches:

Add some garden wildlife! You can make caterpillars from pom poms, a painted rock ladybird or a pipe cleaner dragonfly! You could even make a different creepy crawly every day!

  • bvseo_sdk, dw_cartridge, 18.2.0, p_sdk_3.2.0
  • CLOUD, getReviews, 18ms
  • reviews, product
  • bvseo-msg: Unsuccessful GET. status = 'ERROR', msg = 'Not Found.'; Unsuccessful GET. status = 'ERROR', msg = 'Not Found.';
Top