Feature Friday Tutorial- Ice Cream Cart Bank

Create a cute ice cream cart bank from an unfinished wood box and colored cardstock!  Want to know how?

I participate in a group theme swap on the website Ravelry and the theme this time is “Ice Cream”.  Nothing sounds like summer more than the drone of lawn mowers and the tinkling music of the local ice cream truck.  I live in Atlanta, GA, and between the temperature and humidity, my mind does stray toward the ice cream side of things.  Well, actually, it really doesn’t have to be hot for my mind to be on ice cream, but that’s beside the point.  Anyway, I was looking for an idea to include something handmade and personal in the swap box and I ran across these small wooden banks at the local discount craft store:

These wooden banks were located in the discount aisle at Michael’s for $1 a piece and I couldn’t pass them up.  Possibilities were endless and one in particular came to mind.  An ice cream cart.

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For this project I used:

1 small wooden bank (a wooden box would also work)
2 wooden wheels
1/8″ Balsa wood (about 2 ft. long)
small piece of 3/8″ balsa wood
cardboard scraps
bright colored cardstock
Assorted ice cream clipart or stickers
glue
Acrylic Paint
Clear gloss varnish

(Supplies for this project can be found at any craft store, or check out Hancock’s fabric online.  There is a link with a coupon at the top of my page).

I painted the box white and let it dry.  I then used a strip of 3/8″ balsa wood to help me measure equal stripes, drawing them on with a pencil. (Using a ruler is fine).

I then painted the stripes with bright red acrylic paint.  Use white paint to touch up any edges or shaky hand syndrome…

I painted both tires black and then glued them on each side of the back of the cart.  Cut from the 3/8″balsa wood two 3/4″ pieces and glue in an “L” to the front of the cart to create the stand.  (You can cut balsa wood with a craft knife and file it with a nail file to make the edge smooth).

Cut (1) 1″ x 3″ peice of cardboard, (I used the back of an old tablet), and (2) 1 1/4″ x 1 1/4″ pieces.  These will be used for the freezer doors.  Also using the 1/8″balsa wood, cut (1) 3″ piece and (2) 1 1/4″ pieces for the door handles.  Glue them down to the top of the box.

I then used metalic silver acylic paint on the doors and door handles.

I found quite a bit of clip art on the internet to print out ice cream for the sides of the truck.  You can also use ice cream stickers or hand paint them.  I also printed out the words “Ice Cream” for the side of the cart.  I recommend printing them out on thicker paper as the final coat of varnish will make a thinner paper see-through.

Glue the photos and the sign to the sides of the cart.

The umbrella is made with a quilling technique and colorful cardstock.  To create the umbrella, I cut 1/4″ strips of red cardstock and then cut them in 2″ pieces for the skeleton of the umbrella.  The umbrella top is made up of 6 pie shaped sections.  Start by cutting about (10) 1/4″ strips of colored cardstock.  Using a quilling tool, (or your fingers), coil one strip into about a 1/2″ diameter circle.  Glue the end to keep it from unwinding.  Then pinch on three sides to create a triangle.  Glue (2) of the 2″ red pieces to the sides to create a pie shaped section.

Then fill in that section with more quilled pieces of paper.  I pinched the coils on one end to form teardrops, but you can fill with circles or what ever you choose.

Create more pie shaped pieces in other colors until you have a completed umbrella top.

I used a quilled circle that I had as a support to lift up the center so that when I glued the 6 pieces together, they would take the shape of an umbrella top.

Cut pieces of the 1/4″ strips of colored cardstock and glue to the sides of the umbrella top.  Finish by creating a small coil and gluing to the center of the top.  This coil will help hold your umbrella up, so be sure to add a good drop or two of glue to the underside and allow it to dry.

Cut a 5″ piece of the balsa wood to make the umbrella handle and glue it to the side of the cart.  Once it is dry, glue the umbrella top to it by pushing it through the center of the top, to the center piece. Allow it to dry before going to the next step.

Attach the umbrella top to the handle with glue.  Tilt it a bit to get a good angle. Allow it to dry.

Create the scallops on the umbrella by making coils of 1/4″ strips and pinching them on two sides.  Glue the scallops onto the sides.

Finally, spray the entire project down with several coats of clear gloss varnish.

If you like this tutorial, you might want to check out some of my other Feature Fridays:

Flip Flop Pillow Tutorial- crazy flip flop pillows for a child’s room, or just the child in you.

Dough Bear Ornament- made with child friendly recipe, these ornaments are a great family project.

Tagged as: gifts, kids crafts, painting, paper crafts, quilling