Don’t toss your old cardboard boxes–turn them into toy guitars!

What You Need

• empty cracker or cereal box
• brass fasteners
• craft glue (optional)
• black and white craft paints
• shelf paper to cover the box (We used a wood-grain design.)
• rubber bands
• paint stirrer
• drinking straw
• sturdy, clear packing tape

What You Do

1. Cover the box.
   Cover the entire box with paper, and then tape or glue down. Draw and cut out a circle in the center of the box. Add any other decorations you like.
2. Paint the guitar’s neck.
   Paint the stirrer black. Once dry, add “fret” designs with the white paint, as shown.
3. Add the guitar’s neck.
   Cut a small slit in the top of the box and insert the paint stirrer. Secure with tape. Tape six brass fasteners to the back of the stirrer, as shown.
4. Add “strings” and “bridge.”
   Wrap rubber bands around the box. Slide a straw “bridge” underneath the rubber bands.

   Check out more toys you can make using recycled objects!