Purim is just around the corner and I'm thinking about castles — castles made out of recycled cardboard tubes and a shoebox, of course! I've always wanted to make a castle, and realized that a colorful castle crafted by mom or the kids or both, could be a fantastic centerpiece for the Purim sueda (meal). There's so many ways to go with this one as far as materials and size. And if you don't need a centerpiece so how about a castle mishloach manos? Just build your castle on the lid of the shoe box and voila! I think I may just have to use that idea myself, for the kid's teachers that is, who deserve something really special, and are expecting something creative! I guess that's the price one pays when you don't hide your crafty ways!

And the great thing about this castle is that is looks great from all sides, assuming you take that a bit into consideration when building it! Here's a view from the back, and yes the pieces aren't perfect or straight, as my son pointed out to me this morning, but I did that on purpose, because ya know perfection isn't everything!

You'll Need:

cardboard tubes of all kinds, also mailing tubes which tend to be much wider!

round cans or just about anything thick and round, how about a piece of pvc pipe?

a shoe box

wrapping paper

colored paper

sheer patterned disposable table runner fabric, it's stiff and easy to work with

glittered craft foam

hot glue and/or high tack craft glue like Alene's

mod podge

wooden skewers

How To:

Follow my directions, but since your castle won't be exactly like mine, don't be afraid to re-invent this project a bit!