Upcycled Pizza Box Race Track

Ali is a little gearhead.  Cars, trains, motorcycles, and especially trucks- he loves to run them all over the coffee table, and to line them up on pretty much any flat surface.

Grandma bought him 5 gallon zip-lock bags FULL of cars at a yardsale, and I've been trying to figure out a good way to keep them all in one place so we don't trip on them.

It dawned on me- a pizza box would be *perfect* for a little race track for him.  I looked online for race track printables and didn't see anything that really tripped my trigger, so I made one in Photoshop using Watkins Glen International as the basis.

It's actually pretty easy to put together...I'm guessing it would take about 30 minutes from start to finish if you don't have any "help" :)

Materials:

• Cleanish pizza box
• print out of race track
• Spray adhesive (works best for cardboard crafts because it doesn't have any water, so the cardboard doesn't warp)- you could use white glue, or even wheat paste but it may warp the cardboard.  I like Elmer's brand from Dollar General 
• Wrapping paper, or contact paper for the outside
• Duct tape
• Self-adhesive velcro
• Optional Clear cellophane basket wrap from the dollar store.

Supplies:

• A box cutter for trimming the excess wrapping paper
• Scissors for trimming the printouts

Print out this handy .pdf I made (I'm not a great graphic designer, but this is fine for a toddler).  It's sized to fit a 16" x 34" pizza box, and prints out on nine 8-1/2 x 11" pieces of paper.

Trim off the white edges, and dry fit it inside the pizza box.  There is some overlap so the printing/cutting isn't quite as critical.  Then spray the box with glue, and attach the prints.

I did put a layer of clear cellophane basket wrap on top of the printout- adhered with more spray adhesive.

Then decorate the outside.  I used some shiny red wrapping paper I had laying around, and covered it with more cellophane for a little extra durability.

When you've covered and trimmed both sides seal the edges well with some tape- duct tape, packing tape, washi tape.  I found that if they aren't sealed well the paper does start to come loose from the box after a while.

The handle, and closures are just folded over duct tape with a little bit of Velcro to secure it.

The car storage bag is just a slider zipper sandwich bag covered in more duct tape for stability, and because well...duct tape.

I think he needs a train track next!