How to Make a Stove from Cardboard Boxes

Remove all plastic tape from the cardboard and seal the box with paper tape. Cut a piece of cardboard 1 foot wide and as long as the back top edge of the box. Fold it in half, folding the 12-inch edge, and tape it to the back top edge of the box so three inches of the folded edge show above the box. This is the control panel for your stove.

Paint the top and all sides of the box. Place saucers or small round bowls on top of the box, trying different sizes until you find four that will fit with about an inch between them. Trace around these saucers or bowls on cardboard and cut out the circles.

Paint the circles black and glue them to the top of the stove for burners.

Drill a 1/4-inch hole in the center of the plastic milk carton caps. Use an awl to punch five holes in the folded cardboard on the back of the stove. Use paper fasteners to attach the bottle-cap knobs to the control panel of the stove.

Use a permanent marker to place one mark on the knobs and several marks around the knobs to shown settings for the oven and burners. You may want to mark one knob "oven" and the others "front left," etc.

Cut an oven door in the front of the "range," by cutting from 5 inches from the bottom edge to 4 inches from the top. Then cut across to connect the top of the two cuts. Score the bottom "hinge" of the door by cutting through the top layer only at the bottom of the door on the inside.

Attach a drawer handle to the top of the oven door. Use an awl to poke holes for the screws in the door and four rectangles of cardboard. Stack the rectangles on the inside of the door and screw the handle on tightly. The extra cardboard makes the cardboard thick enough to hold the screws firmly.

Cut a rectangle of black paper for the oven window. Round the corners of the paper and glue or tape it to the center of the oven door.