To make the mailbox costume, print this file for printables: mailbox_costume_printables.pdf

I know, everytime I pass by a real mailbox, I can’t help but laugh, thinking about this costume. Seeing a mailbox now reminds me of the costume, instead of the other way around. I have a boy, that is obsessed with mailmen, UPS men, FedEx men, DHL men, and all their respective trucks. I don’t know how this idea came to me, but I thought it would be easy enough to make  a mailbox, with an old cardboard moving box, some blue paint (or blue poster board), and some great graphics. I had these graphics made  for the costume. And, they are super nice, high-quality, and you can print them right here. We ended up using this costume for play for months and months after Halloween. Our five year old was very obsessed with this thing. (The costume is essentially, a box. I would not recommend it for children under 7, because it can get heavy lugging a box on one’s shoulders. )

What you’ll need:

1 or 2 old moving boxes, depending on size
Packing tape
4 pieces of blue poster board, or blue paint
1 printable file for postal box graphics: mailbox_costume_printables.pdf

What to do:

First, you need to create the shell from the cardboard boxes. I wish I had taken pictures during the process, but I did not. Start with one box, open up the ends. I taped one of the ends (4 flaps) open, to give the mailbox more height. Do the same for the opposite end, leaving one flap alone. This flap will be the front of the mailbox, that will open and close. Now, cut an extra length of cardboard to add to your box, to create the curvature at the top of the mailbox. It will all look very messy, with the random cardboard and tape, but it will all come together after the blue shell comes on. Reinforce the mailbox with tape.

Next, paint the box blue, or, tape on blue sheets of poster board (this was a shortcut I favored). And, attach the templates here to complete the mailbox.