I wanted to create a photo backdrop for my niece's Knights and Princesses Birthday Party - so I went to Pinterest and the Internet at large and found about 3 tutorials and 10 images - way less than I expected - on how to make a piece of cardboard look like a castle.
So I'm going to add my experience, so there will be 4 tutorials out there!
$ - Very inexpensive, I'd say under $10
Materials - Easy to find - posterboard, paint, foam brushes all from Dollar Tree
Skill - Very easy, once you know the process
Time - This is the biggest hindrance - it took a bit to do a multi step process to a bunch of posterboard
Result - Great visual impact, looks a lot like a castle!
This was a large, heavy piece of cardboard that came with a piece of furniture - saved in my garage for just such an occasion! I painted on a door, using mostly brown paint, and then some streaks of black, blended in. That gives it dimension and makes it look more realistic.
My laboratory, where I mixed up paint
Step 1 - paint gray all over . If I had more planning, inclination, I would've done this step with spray paint. Kind of a medium gray, this will serve as the "mortar" between the stones.
Step 2: Make a template for your stones out of cardboard. I think mine was approximately 4-6.5 and I rounded the corners.
Step 3: After the gray dries on the paint, trace your stone template in staggered rows, leaving 1/2 - 3/4 gap between bricks and rows.
Step 4: Using black paint, paint an L shape down the left side and bottom of each rectangle you traced.
Using white paint, paint an L shape down the right side and top of each rectangle shape.
Then in the middle use a wet sponge to try to blend the two colors in the middle of each rectangle shape.
When you're right in the midst of it - you don't see how it's going to look like a castle. It looks black, white and gray, messy. Don't worry!
Then you let it dry and take a step back and realize - hey, that looks like a castle wall, it looks full of dimension, it's kind of amazing - I did that with paint! I need to do a bunch more...
For around the door, I cut from cardboard (aka Amazon boxes) rectangles that were about 6x2 inches and did the same painting technique. For the curved parts of the door, I just cut those in half and then glued them all around the door.
My nieces and nephews in front of the castle! ♥♥♥♥♥ I added a wrapping paper tube with a flag for the birthday girl!
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