With just two sheets of paper, a color printer, a cutting board, an exacto knife, a ruler, a scoring tool, glue and 30 minutes of your time you will be able create a kitchen which can provide hours of cheap and portable entertainment for your kids.
This project came about when I was playing with my son and some colored paper... he asked me to make a house, and I was only too eager to comply (one the reasons I'd wanted kids was to have an excuse for building a doll house...). But since I live in an apartment with limited space and I'm allergic to dust, I wanted a house I could fold up and put away. You can see pictures of the fruit of many hours of labor here, or you can skip ahead and make your own kitchen by following the steps in this instructable.
UPDATE April 2010:
Now you can make the whole house! It took a LONG time to put together, but finally the whole eight room, two story house can either be downloaded as a PDF file (either the whole house or room by room) by going to www.makepopupcards.com. The site has some free templates and I'm planning to add even more, so it's worth the visit.
UPDATE February 2012:
For those who prefer video tutorials to step by step instructions, just click play. The music is by John M. Davis, and was originally composed for an HBO documentary "A Matter of Taste"
This project came about when I was playing with my son and some colored paper... he asked me to make a house, and I was only too eager to comply (one the reasons I'd wanted kids was to have an excuse for building a doll house...). But since I live in an apartment with limited space and I'm allergic to dust, I wanted a house I could fold up and put away. You can see pictures of the fruit of many hours of labor here, or you can skip ahead and make your own kitchen by following the steps in this instructable.
UPDATE April 2010:
Now you can make the whole house! It took a LONG time to put together, but finally the whole eight room, two story house can either be downloaded as a PDF file (either the whole house or room by room) by going to www.makepopupcards.com. The site has some free templates and I'm planning to add even more, so it's worth the visit.
UPDATE February 2012:
For those who prefer video tutorials to step by step instructions, just click play. The music is by John M. Davis, and was originally composed for an HBO documentary "A Matter of Taste"
Step 1: Preparation
Download the 4 files.
"Kitchen" and "kitchen support" are the pictures you will need to print on your color printer (a fairly heavy stock works best). The two other files are for reference only. Red lines show where you need to cut, green lines show where you need to score and fold. When you print, make sure you turn scaling off.
Get your equipment ready:
An exacto knife
A cutting board (a piece of cardboard will do)
A ruler
A scoring tool -- I use a ball point pen which I painstakingly emptied of ink, but you could also use something like a DS stylus or a knitting needle. Anything with plastic tip, not too sharp so it won't puncture or scrape the paper should work -- even an other ruler.
Glue
"Kitchen" and "kitchen support" are the pictures you will need to print on your color printer (a fairly heavy stock works best). The two other files are for reference only. Red lines show where you need to cut, green lines show where you need to score and fold. When you print, make sure you turn scaling off.
Get your equipment ready:
An exacto knife
A cutting board (a piece of cardboard will do)
A ruler
A scoring tool -- I use a ball point pen which I painstakingly emptied of ink, but you could also use something like a DS stylus or a knitting needle. Anything with plastic tip, not too sharp so it won't puncture or scrape the paper should work -- even an other ruler.
Glue
Kitchen-support-with-lines.pdf(2100x2996) 797 KBKitchen-support.pdf(2100x2996) 900 KBKitchen-with-lines.pdf(504x719) 140 KBKitchen.pdf(504x719) 1 MBStep 2: Cut
Start with the support because it's much easier and almost invisible. Cut along the red lines.
Step 3: Score
Using a ruler, score the kitchen support card by following the green lines on your reference picture.
Step 4: Fold
Holding the picture facing you, poke your fingers through the counter top shape as you close the card with your other hand (since I was taking the picture, I couldn't really show both hands at work). It's very easy so long as you've scored it properly.
Step 5: Repeat
Cut the kitchen sheet along the red lines of your reference picture (follow the details in the picture not the rough lines -- cut around the coffee pot, and leave the handles on the pot!).
Score the card using your scoring tool and a ruler (no rounded shapes on the score line, even if some details in the picture might be curved).
Fold first the sink counter top, then the fridge, then the stove counter, and finally the floor beneath the refrigerator before folding the whole card in half and smoothing down the creases.
Score the card using your scoring tool and a ruler (no rounded shapes on the score line, even if some details in the picture might be curved).
Fold first the sink counter top, then the fridge, then the stove counter, and finally the floor beneath the refrigerator before folding the whole card in half and smoothing down the creases.
Step 6: Glue
Take the kitchen card and put a small quantity of white glue on the back side of the floor. Make sure you only put glue on the floor surface, not in any of the popups.
Carefully align the kitchen card on top of the support so that the middle crease line (thin green line on either side of the kitchen) comes right up against the middle crease line of the support. Press it down flat to glue the sheets together.
Separate the kitchen wall from the support wall and put a small amount of glue behind the kitchen wall. Press if down flat on the support wall, then open and close your card to make sure the kitchen and support are aligned and glued properly (if not, quickly pull them apart before the glue dries and try again).
Carefully align the kitchen card on top of the support so that the middle crease line (thin green line on either side of the kitchen) comes right up against the middle crease line of the support. Press it down flat to glue the sheets together.
Separate the kitchen wall from the support wall and put a small amount of glue behind the kitchen wall. Press if down flat on the support wall, then open and close your card to make sure the kitchen and support are aligned and glued properly (if not, quickly pull them apart before the glue dries and try again).
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