Makedo Dinosaur Costume From a Sun Basket Box

Once your Sun Basket delivery has been safely stowed in the kitchen, the fun can begin.

The Sun Basket box is a fantastic resource for creative Makedo cardboard construction projects. This guide shows how to transform yourself into a prehistoric predator by building a Dinosaur Costume using just one Sun Basket box! The resulting wearable cardboard dino will fit kids of all sizes and is ready for hours of pretend play.

MAKEDO TIP: When measuring widths and distances of features during this project, you can be as precise as you like. We chose to make the most of what was in front of us, which meant our hands and fingers became useful devices to mark against. When we needed to rule a straight line, a spare piece of cardboard gave us just the edge we were looking for.

Begin by flipping the Sun Basket box over, and carefully opening up the flaps on the base of the box. Then lay the box down on its side, with the opened end facing away from you as shown.

The first cut will be a curved shape that rests on the shoulders when the costume is worn. Starting from the top-left corner, cut a gentle curve into the side panel. Be careful not to go too far - we have ended our cutting line approximately 1/3 of the distance from the edge.

From the end of your curved cut, make a short line at a 45 degree angle. The line should be the length of one tooth. Repeat this across the side of the box, returning to join the lines after each parrallel cut.

Plan your cuts so that the end of the row of teeth reaches the right-hand edge a little below the halfway point.

First take a good look at the fantastic row of teeth you just made. Take note of where the curve starts and finishes, and the size and endpoint of the line of teeth. We need to repeat this on the opposite side of the box.

Flip the box over, so that we can mirror the same process on the other side. Make sure you start in the opposite corner and try to match the same shape and proportions from the previous steps.

The first cut is the curved line for the shoulder support. Next, cut the 45-degree teeth across to the same point on the right-hand side as previous. It is a good idea to flip the box over again and try to visually match where you cut to on the first side, so that you have a reference point before you start cutting.

The short side of the box will be the front of the dinosaur.

Cut a row of teeth across the front, joining the teeth on each side. Take care not to make them too big, because we need to keep enough space for nostrils in next step.

Once you have cut across, you should have a long spiked strip that can be separated from the box. This will become the spines and tail of the dinosaur.

Find a circular object that you can trace for the nostrils. We used a small tea cup.

First stand the box on its end so that the 'nose' is pointing upwards. Place your round object near the centre and trace out two circles. Position them symmetrically, close to the centre of the nose.

Be sure to cut neatly, because the cardboard circles that we remove in this step will become the pupils for the eyes.

Find another round object to use as a template for the larger circles. We used a saucer for this, but you could also use a small bowl or lid.

You will need to cut two circles from the centre flap on the spine and tail section. Make sure your template object fits so that you can draw two circles on the flap.

Trace out the circles, and then cut off the flap by following the circles along the edge closer to the fold as shown. The small flap shapes that remain will be used later to attach the spine and tail to the head of the dinosaur.

Once you have cut the flap off, continue to cut out what remains of the large circles.

Gather the four circles that you have cut. Each eye will be made from one large and one small circle.

Lay the box down on its side and work out where to position the eyes. To make it look a little bit like a T-Rex, you can try locating them approximately 3/4 of the way towards the back of the head.

Before attaching the eyes, you can pre-load the Mini-Tool with a longer Scru XL. This way it is ready to go once you have punched the holes in the cardboard.

Position the first eye with the smaller circle in place on top of the larger circle, and then punch a hole through the 3 layers of cardboard. Secure the eye into place with the Scru XL.

Next, flip the box over and repeat for the second eye. Try to mirror the position so that the eyes are symmetrical when the dinosaur head is upright.

Open out the tail section and measure approximately two finger-widths from the fold line on one of the flaps. Cut all the way down, parallel to the fold line.

Turn the tail section around and remove the second flap. This time, cut along the fold line.

Now take the full-width flap (the second one you removed) and trim it down to match the size of the narrow flap (the first one that was removed).

Stand the spines up and make a cut as shown, continuing along the diagonal line all the way to the fold.

Then make another vertical cut from the tip of the next spine. Cut the cardboard down to meet the previous cut line at the fold, and remove the triangular section.

Lay the spines down and make a small cut in the folded strip as shown in the image. We've made our cut level with the valley between the first and second spine.

To attach the spines and tail to the head, first position the head upright. Align the removed section of the spines with the back corner of the dinosaur head. Fold down over the edge so that the spines continue to become the 'tail'.

Position the spines in the centre of the head and Scru into place.

Lay the head on its side. Scru the tail into place near the bottom of the box, and again on the flap that remains at the 'neck' of the dinosaur.

Take the two strips from Step 8 and fold them along the cardboard flutes all the way down each strip, so that they form a curved shape.

Attach the strips with a single Scru on the inside of the rear flap on the Dinosaur head as shown.

Once the belt strips are attached, join the two halves and use the Mini-Tool punch 'belt holes' so that the costume can be adjusted to fit the wearer.

Your Sun Basket Dinosaur Costume is complete. Use a Makedo Scru to join the belt strips together, and you can even leave the Mini-Tool connected as a 'key' to release the belt once you are finished being a dinosaur.

Have you made a Makedo Dinosaur Costume? Share pictures of your creation!

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