Duct Tape & Diaper Box Fire Engine

This is an instructable on how to make a fire engine out of duct tape and a diaper box. It's pretty quick and can be completed while your babies nap.

For this project I used 5 different colors of duct tape, one sturdy diaper box, a blade, scissors, stick on letters that spell SFFD x2, double sided adhesive, and glue. Frankly, these are all pretty flexible. A glue gun would sub well for the adhesive and glue, you could use less colors of duct tape, or even skip the lettering if you want. I am very far from a perfectionist and improvised throughout the process, and you can too!

Using your blade remove the top box flaps. Set them aside for later.

Tape up the inside of the box. If your box has a gap on the bottom you will want to lay a strip of tape over the gap with sticky side up, smooth side down. Otherwise you end up with stickum in the opening of the box that collects crazy amounts of dust and dirt. Gross.

I found it easiest to cut strips of tape and apply them up and down (heightwise instead of widthwise), folding them over the edge. It's ok if you tape onto the exterior, you will be covering it over with more tape later.

This is the easiest part of the process, tape all around the box, and then cut it. Then apply the tape half way up the previous layer and wrap it around entirely again. My off brand duct tape was kind of transparent so that is why I overlapped my layers. But this also prevents any gaps from occuring. When you are finished you'll have a box entirely covered with duct tape both inside and out.

To make the wheels retrieve the long flap you set aside earlier and the duct tape you'll use for your tires. I found a great print that looks kind of like tire tread that I used for mine, but regular black, silver or white would look good too. Cover the glossy side of the cardboard flap with your tape.

My first time making a fire truck I cut out the tires first then taped them. The next time I tried taping the cardboard first and then cutting out the tires. I found the second way was easier and quicker, but I ended up with exposed cardboard edges to the tires. Let me know if you find a better way to do this.

Find a big circle to trace onto the cardboard. The roll of duct tape is great for this, or the wide mouth of a glass. Trace 4 circles and then cut them out. These will be your tires.

Find a small circle to trace onto the cardboard. A shot glass is perfect size for this. Trace 4 circles and then cut them out. These will be your hub caps. Since they are smaller I found it easier to tape them after cutting them out. Then trim the tape.

Use glue to attach the hub caps to the tires. Center them before attaching.

Select one of the smaller cardboard flaps to use for the windshield. Cover the glossy side with duct tape. I used gold but silver or white would also look good. Use black duct tape to cover the edges of the windshield. I was too lazy (and nap time was almost over!) to trim the duct tape so I origami-ed it on the back. It lays smoother if you fold the edges in at an angle before taping it down.

Trim a narrow piece of tape to use for the center line of the windshield.

Time to attach the wheels and the windshield. Glue takes a looooooooong time to dry so save yourself the headache and use either a glue gun or double sided adhesive. I eyeballed the placement of the tires but for better accuracy measure out your placement.

Either measure out your letter placement to center them on the sides of the engine or eyeball it. Your choice!

Voilà! Fire truck