DIY: Rapunzel's Tower

My little girl is crazy about Tangled right now. She has one of the miniature Rapunzel dolls and wanted a tower. Have you seen how expensive those things are?? For those of you who are trying to save some money, or are just looking for a fun project, this one is for you.

Materials needed:

1- empty Pringles can

1- empty large margarine tub

1- toilet paper roll

1 water bottle or soda bottle lid

2- cone shaped party hats 

2- 7-inch wood circles

4 pieces of scrapbook paper (12 x 12):

            1- light color for the tower

            2- purple for the roof

            1- color of choice for the turret roof

1 roll of colored duct tape. I used aqua.

Green acrylic paint

Hot glue gun

Instructions:

1.     Paint one wooden circle green and set aside to dry.

2.     Clean out the empty Pringles can and cover with hot glue. Cover with the light scrapbook paper. Trim the top until you have a quarter inch or less of paper at the top. Tuck the paper into the tube and hot glue the lid onto the can. Set aside for later.

3.     Make sure the margarine tub is thoroughly cleaned. Remove the lid and set it aside for later. Tear or cut several 7 inch strips of duct tape and place them vertically on the tub, beginning at the top of the tub under the crease. Make sure the tape is straight. Tuck the tape tightly under the bottom of the tub. Repeat this until the entire margarine tub is covered. Set aside for later.

4.     The roof was the tricky part for me. If you can find a cone with a 7 inch base that would be perfect. I couldn’t find one, so I placed a party hat in the center of the unpainted wood circle and secured duct tape about an inch from the top and stretched it to the edge of the wood. I did this all the way around.

5.     Next, I unfolded one of the party hats and placed it on a piece of purple scrapbook paper.  I copied the shape of the hat, but made it an inch wider all the way around. Do this with both pieces of purple paper.

6.     Roll the first piece of paper around the circle. You should have around an inch of paper hanging off the bottom and this piece will wrap around ¾ of the circle. Hot glue it in place. Starting where the blank space is, wrap the second piece of paper around the circle so it overlaps the first piece. Hot glue this in place and trim the excess paper, leaving 1/8 of an inch of paper hanging.

7.     Hot glue the bottom of the circle to the top of the margarine lid. This will allow you to remove the roof and play with the inside of the tower.

8.     Hot glue the bottom of the Pringles can to the center of the green circle.

9.     Glue the bottom of the margarine tub to the top of the Pringles can. Make sure it is centered.

10. To make the turret cut a toilet paper roll in half and cover it with duct tape. Glue the bottle cap to the side of the toilet paper roll and cover the area with duct tape. Hot glue the roll to the margarine tub, connecting it by the bottle cap. This will give you enough space to attach the roof.

11. To make the roof simply construct a small cone from another piece of scrapbook paper. Glue the roof to the turret.

12. After you have assembled your tower you can cut out a window, place doll furniture inside the tower or decorate however you like. I strongly recommend using a clear finish like Modge Podge or finishing spray on the outside of the tower to protect it.

13. Play with your kids!