There are a whole lot of things you can do with a cigar box, or any kind of similar box. Half the fun is the scene and half the fun is how it is all hidden into the closed box then revealed upon opening.

In this project I show you the idea of a cigar box castle. You could of course make any number of scenes, underwater, jungle, city, country, condominium, outer space, another planet, and well you get the idea. Go crazy with this and have some fun!!

And you don't need a whole lot of supplies. Most of this is done with balsa wood, foam and string.

And... If you can't easily get cigar boxes amazon.com has them cheap. I have some links at the bottom of this page.

Here is a picture of the completed cigar box castle.

Cigar boxes are usually pretty easy to get. I went down to the local shop that sells cigars and bought a bunch of them for one dollar each. And they come in a wide variety of interesting shapes and sizes.

They are also available on amazon.com. I have pics and links to them at the bottom of this page.

One of the big things to think about before starting a project like this is that the big appeal is being able to close it up and open it up. So, plan for the things inside accordingly. As you are building it be sure to close it just to test that everything fits inside nicely and nothing on the top interferes with anything on the bottom.

Now let's take a look at some of the fun things inside this cigar box castle. It will give you lots of ideas on what you can make. Let's take a look at some of the fun things inside the courtyard of the castle.

There is a miniature catapult that is hot glued pieces of balsa wood and a little bit of string.

A little water well made out of clay, a bit of string and some small pieces of balsa wood. The bucket is foam with a piece of paper clip as the handle.

The cooking area is a fireplace carved out of foam with a balsa wood top and the fire is little bits of broom bristles. There is actually a cooking chicken on a rotisserie too. The chicken was carved out of a bit of foam.

On one side is a stable made out of balsa wood. There is also some string as a horse rope, a water trough carved out of foam and the thatched roof. You can use the bristles from a broom for this thatched roof or some woodland scenics like this:

Natural Straw Field Grass Woodland Scenics

An extremely fine, natural hair product that models tall grass, field grass and weeds.

The little crennelated towers are carved out of foam. You can use foam for a whole lot of different things. it is very easy to sculpt, carve, and paint.

Okay, lots more fun stuff here. Let's take a look at the top section of the castle

Darice Unfinished Cigar Box

Wooden Empty Cigar Box; pack of 10

Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages (Lab Series)

Review

"Written by a couple who run a successful combination art gallery and art school for children, this book presents the authors' most popular art projects for youngsters, covering an ambitious range of materials and techniques. This guide offers a greater-than-average number of open-ended and inventive projects that can be taught to younger children and teens alike. Each project is paired with an example of a work by a modern master or living artist. Many photographs illustrate techniques and show children deeply engaged in creativity. VERDICT: Recommended particularly for teachers and parents." - Library Journal