DIY Multilevel Toy Parking From Recycled Materials

I was looking into solutions to store this little boy's many cars, something appealing enough so that he will park them there on his own and maybe even play with it, not just use it as a storage place. There are a few options out there, but quite expensive and not quite what I was looking for. So, I decided to try to DIY one. Here are the steps, I hope it inspires you!

Step 1: Materials You'll Need

- Large cardboard box + 12 milk/juice cartons various sizes
- Kitchen towel roll

- Old newspapers/magazines

- Red, white and black paint

- Black and red thick sticky tape (red optional)

- Masking tape

- Black paper

- Glue (and super glue just in case things don't stick properly)

- Ruler, pencil, paint brush, scissors

Step 2: Create Floor Levels

- Cut out the top part of 2 milk cartons and fit one box into the other

- Make 4 of these box pairs and glue them to the bottom of a large cardboard box

- Cut out a piece of cardboard, equal in size with the bottom and ceiling of the large cardboard box and glue it on top of the milk cartons in order to create a new floor level

- Add thick sticky tape around the boxes

- In the same fashion, add another floor level

Step 3: Make Windows and Walls

- First reinforce the box inside and outside with sticky tape

- Draw 3 rounded-corner rectangles on one of the sides of the large cardboard box, while taking into account the height of each floor level (the height of each floor should be equal to the height of the milk cartons used)

- Using a craft scalpel or sharp scissors, cut out the rectangles you previously drew on the box. You should have 3 large windows on the side of the large cardboard box

- Create lateral outside walls by adding cardboard to the uncovered sides of the box

- Cover the inside walls with cardboard, so that milk cartons are no longer visible

Step 4: Paint the Walls

- Paper mache the walls, both inside and outside using newspapers and glue (3 parts school glue and 1 part water)

- Add masking tape around the waist of the box, like a belt. Paint the top part red and the bottom one white

- Paint the inside walls white and leave the floors as they are

Step 5: Final Decoration

- On a black sheet of paper, draw parking slots and number them

- Measure the height of the bottom floor and cut out 2 kitchen towel rolls with the same height. Paint them black and write letters on them

- Glue the numbered black sheet of paper on the ground floor and the 2 black poles on top

- Add floor decoration to the other 2 floor levels

- Cut small squares of black tape and glue them on the outdoor walls - white part, in order to get a chess like pattern

...And you're done! Let the parking begin!