How to Make a Donkey Kong Coin Drop Piggy Bank

Hey there!

In this instructable, I'll show you how to make your very own Donkey Kong themed coin-dropping piggy bank! You don't need any expensive tools and the materials and easy to come by.

Read on and thanks again for stopping by!

Step 1: Tools and Materials

See the photos for the tools and materials you'll need.

You can substitute the laminating pouches for clear plastic sheets if that's easier for you to get hold of. Acetate sheets work just fine.

I've also attached a PDF of the printable templates for the whole project. It's a bit of a beast of a file but they should all be there!

Step 2: Cutting the Foamboard Pieces

Stick all the black and white templates down on the sheet of foamboard. Try to keep them close together to use the foamboard economically and make cutting a little easier. You'll want to stick the back pieces so they're touching (arrows help line this bit up).

A metal ruler makes a big difference here in keeping the lines crisp and straight!

Once you've cut out all the individual pieces, cut out the grey hatched areas on the inside of some of the pieces.

Step 3: Lining the Edges of the Foamboard Pieces

Next up, to hide those foamy edges, we'll add some nice black edges to them!

Cut your sheets of black card or paper into 2cm strips and then cut them to size so you can wrap them around the inside edges of the box windows, zig-zag pieces and the box lid.

Use plenty of tacky glue (I found Pritt Stick worked brilliantly for this) to stick each piece down and hold them in place for a good 5-10 seconds.

I found that creasing the edges, allowing 5mm in the middle for the foamboard, helped the pieces to slot in and hold in place better.

Check out the photos to see what that'll look like!

Step 4: Cut Out the Colour Printouts

Using the craft knife and ruler, carefully cut out the colour templates. They are only paper so be careful in those corners where they might snag!

Step 5: Making the Back Piece

Righty, it's time to make the back piece! Take the main DK graphic with Mario and Peach on it as well as the wide rectangle with the purple girder edges. Stick them on the front side in line with the grey template lines, making sure to use plenty of tacky glue.

If you glue the large graphic in 3cm high sections, you can smooth it down gradually to help remove any air bubbles.

Once you've stuck down the front side, flip it over and stick down the mainly black large printout and the smaller rectangle 'door' with DK, Mario, Peach and the barrels on.

To prepare the 'door' use your knife and ruler to cut all the way through along the white lines on both of the long horizontal edges and either the left or right vertical edge.

Then, flip the piece over and gently score through most of the foam where the remaining vertical white line would be. Be careful not to go all the way through as this will act as your hinge!

Try opening and closing the door a few times. You should find the card on one side of the foamboard allow the door to hinge open and closed. Leave it closed for later steps.

Step 6: Adding the Door Support

To help prevent the door from pushing through into the box, cut a rectangle just taller than the door height (by around 1cm) and hot-glue it down onto the front side of the box so it overlaps with the door. Make sure the glue doesn't go on the door though as otherwise it won't open!

Then, stick the small black printout onto the top of the door support to help it blend in.

Step 7: Adding the Zig-zag Graphics

Next up, apply plenty of glue to the top side of the zig-zag pieces and apply the printed graphics. There's only one way each graphic fits on so just try trial and error until you find which fits which!

Again, plenty of tacky glue and press down with even pressure. A large books works well here with that!

Step 8: Adding the Upper Window and Frame

Now, we need to cut a clear plastic window to stop the coins falling out. Lie the large black upper frame on top of the first clear plastic sheet and draw around with a permanent marker.

Cut just inside of the black line all around so you have a rectangle around 5mm smaller than the one you drew.

To hold it in place, add strips of thin double-side tape to the zig-zag pieces where the purple girders are as the is where the coins will be resting (and would be most likely to fall through!). Use the tip of a pin/needle/craft knife to help pick off the protective layer to reveal the sticky goodness.

Quickly add lines of hot glue around the edge of the zig-zag pieces and press down the black upper frame in place.

Step 9: Adding the Edges

To cover up those white edges, next we'll add the thin black printouts with the purple girders. Each fits one one edge so try lining them up until you fit the right edge.

Once again, add plenty of tacky glue and press them in place, smoothing the down to help remove any air bubbles.

Use your craft knife to help trim off any excess.

Step 10: Adding the Top of the Money Box

Stick the two templates on either side of the money box lid (the one with the slit cut in the middle and on one of the long edges). You'll know they're the right way around as the slots should line up.

Run a line of hot glue just under the front side of the upper frame you just glued in place and stick the money box top in place so the slot in the long edge lines up with the gap under the zig-zag pieces and so the white-edged box lid side faces down.

Try to hold it at a right angle to help the box form nice and straight.

Step 11: Adding the Handle

Now, it's time to find out what the screw and board game piece were for!

Use the photos for reference here as it's hard to describe... line up the screw on the door just in from the door stop you stuck down. Gently push it in and twist it by hand so it screw through into the door. add a blob of hot glue and hand tighten it so the head of the screw fits flush to the door.

Flip the whole box over, being careful of the exposed screw. Carefully holding the board game piece, carefully squeeze hot glue into the piece so it's around 3/4 full and press it onto the exposed screw.

When the glue has solidified, which may take a minute, the glue should have bonded around the screw, stopping it from pulling through.

Give the door a tentative first open and close with its new handle!

Step 12: Adding Final Windows

Time for those final windows. Repeat what you did for the large front window but for the two square windows and the remaining rectangular window.

Use double-sided tape to hold the windows in place and then glue the purple transfer on the window side of each piece.

With the rectangular window, make sure you stick the white-edged template down on the window side. This'll make sense in a bit!

Step 13: Finishing the Box

Time to finish the structure of the box! Run a line of hot glue along the inside edges of the right and left side of the money box. Press each square panel in place so the window faces in.

The money box front panel sits on the outside edges of the frame. Run two lines of hot glue along the front edge of each of the square panels and press the front panel in place.

Finally, the bottom panel just pops in place. Run two lines of glue in the gaps and press the panel in place firmly.

Hurrah! The money box is whole!! Now, it's time to make it look pretty :)

Step 14: Finishing Up

To finish off, you should have two square printouts. These stick over the top of the square panels to cover the foam up. There's a white strip at the front of the box lid panel. You can cover this up with a strip of black paper/card and... you guessed it... plenty of tacky glue!

Smooth it down in place and flip the box over. Open up the door and the inside of the door stop is rather white. You can either colour this in with a black pen or cut and stick a black piece of paper/card over it.

Aaaaand, you're done!!

Step 15: Thoughts and Reflections

This project is a lot of fun to make and really helped me develop my cutting skills. On reflection, the foamboard is easily strong enough to last a fair while but, in time, would grow a little weak around the door hinge.

One thing you could do (if you have a jigsaw/coping saw and a drill) would be to make the project using 5mm thick MDF or plywood rather then foamboard and 2mm perspex/styrene for the windows.

A big thank you from me for reading my instructable and I hope you found it interesting.

If you try making it yourself or have any suggestions, please do post photos or ideas in the comments!