Craftiness

Learn How I Made Princess Skateboarder’s Amazing Skateboard

Kyra

Oct 13, 2021 •21 minutes to read

This year Zoey wants to be Princess Skateboarder for Halloween. Although it took a bit of time to come up with and assemble her outfit I jumped at the chance to make her her own Princess Skateboarder’s accessories and so those felt as if they came together much quicker. I had to share my process with you in case you’re also making a Princess Skateboarder costume or some other costume that might be helped by these steps.

Pinterest geared collage and text image. The top has two screenshots of the Princess Skateboarder character. This is followed by the post's title, two side by side photos of my plans and the final skateboard, and then finally at the bottom my main URL.

In the Princess Skateboarder video, found through the Homer website and app, Princess Skateboarder decides to escape the tall tower the dragon put her in by creating a skateboard out of a knight’s shield, a necklace, and two wooden sticks that paper scrolls were wound up on. The skateboarding part of the Princess Skateboarder video is the absolute best part and I knew I had to duplicate all the required portions.

Image is a screenshot of the video in the Homer app where Princess Skateboard is assembling her skateboard. — She starts by grabbing the knight’s shield.

I started out by planning and making the skateboard, helmet, and attempted the three birds before going onto the outfit that I posted about last week. In this post I’ll only go over the skateboard but as several items were made at the same time some photos may include things I’ll go over in future posts.

As a quick aside I want to share all the related Princess Skateboarder posts with you in one easy to locate location in case you want to jump through them. So far this is just the second post I’ve shared but as I post more I will come back and add the links.

Planning the Skateboard

When I first started brainstorming the idea of Princess Skateboarder’s skateboard I considered briefly just buying one. I looked online filtering by diamond shaped ones to my husband’s surprise because he didn’t realize the skateboard is supposed to look like a knight’s shield as that’s what it was created from. Although I stumbled upon a Kryptonics Stubby skateboard, on Amazon, that seemed to be mostly the right shape I decided not to get it. This was mainly because Zoey has no actual experience with skateboards and using one in a potential crowd seemed simply wrong. Additionally, other than the vague shape this skateboard doesn’t look like a knight’s shield and most of the positive reviews seem to be for dogs riding it rather than for kids. I decided to instead make a fake skateboard and, later on, if Zoey becomes interested in skateboarding we could always buy her one that was based on reviews and specs rather than simply it’s aesthetics. After going through these deliberations I hopped on my reMarkable to sketch out how I might make this Princess Skateboarder item.

Image is a screenshot of white paper with drawings and points about how to make the skateboard. — This page of my notebook shows my preliminary thoughts and resulting idea for the skateboard itself. It also shows how misguided I was on how easy it would be to cut through layers of glued together cardboard. At this early point in the process I was already considering making a sail for the skateboard for when Princess Skateboarder needs to cross the moat. Here I was going to make it on the underside of the shield but, later on, decided to put it on the top so the skateboard only needs to be decorated on the one side.

In a previous question I poised about this costume on Facebook someone mentioned that I could find knight accessories at the Dollar Tree so I headed over to our local one to see what I could see. There weren’t any knight costumes or parts to be seen but I did find a crown, used in the outfit, and some beads for Mardi Gras that I was planning on using to wrap around the skateboard like the Princess does with her necklace. In the end I decided to forgo the Mardi Gras beads as I didn’t want them crushed by the weight of Zoey standing on them or the skateboard as a whole. Instead I decided to go another way to add the necklace to the skateboard. And so without further ado this is how I constructed Princess Skateboarder’s skateboard for Zoey:

Assembling the Skateboard Base With Cardboard Boxes

I wanted the skateboard to be incredibly sturdy and allow Zoey to actually stand on it even though it doesn’t move so I started saving all the cardboard boxes we received until I knew we had more than enough. I then got to town opening the boxes up and comparing their sizes. The boxes that were large and sturdy were put in my to use pile while the shorter and flimsier ones were first split into smaller parts.

Image shows a stack of flat cardboard boxes. — I started out by collapsing all the boxes that looked like they’d work and splitting some of the other ones into two or four pieces.

I then looked through my Mod Podge collection and noticed I had several bottles of the Mod Podge Outdoor version so I grabbed the one with the least amount left inside and got started. I went through way more Mod Podge than expected as I finished the remnants in the first one and then went through an entire other larger jar of it while still working on assembling the base. Overall my process was simple although, looking back, I could’ve saved more Mod Podge if I had shaped the cardboard pieces ahead of time. This time; however, I basically stacked the boxes making sure to rotate each one so they’d be more secure and glued each layer together one by one making one large sturdy piece of cardboard.

Image shows one larger square of cardboard underneath with a smaller rectangular Target box covering the right side. The other piece is to the left while a bottle of Mod Podge and a foam brush lay to the right. — After selecting the largest opened box as a base and cutting it to the vague size I wanted I next grabbed two smaller quartered sections of cardboard, rotated them so the layers would alternate with the previous and next layer and thus be more secure, and planned to glue them side by side to make one layer out of the two pieces.

Image shows white goo in lines and smears on the cardboard with a foam brush sitting in on part. — I moved the new cardboard layer off to the side, for now, and poured a generous amount of Mod Podge over the base cardboard layer.

Image shows the white Mod Podge extending from where the other box is laid out overtop of it. The white smeared foam brush is to the left. — After using the foam brush to smear the Mod Podge everywhere I grabbed the smaller rectangular box and laid it carefully on top.

Image shows a large square of box composed of two Target box sections with a Mod Podge smeared foam brush on top of them. — After applying more Mod Podge to the other side of the box and the edge of the top box it was time to finish the second layer by adding the other smaller box beside the first.

Image shows the same vague rectangle of cardboard but this time it's three layers tall with the smaller Target boxes peeking out from the front and back. The almost empty jar of Mod Podge and the wet brush sit to the right side of the photo. — I then grabbed a larger box that matched the first layer, poured and smeared more Mod Podge over that second layer, and carefully applied the box making sure it was rotated lengthwise like the first layer but not like the second. I wanted to alternate the direction of the cardboard to make the final piece more sturdy.

Image shows Zoey's lower half, with unicorn pants and bright sock, standing on the previous showing cardboard as if it was already a skateboard. — After adding one or two more layers I figured the base was now secure enough to be done. I started second guessing it’s size though so I called Zoey over and let her stand on the table so we could size it up. She absolutely loved this as we never let her on the table.

I was finally done adding layers but then I saw a cereal box in my pile of saved cardboard and realized that a light colored box on top would probably make it easier to sketch out the skateboard plans. I only had one so I quickly headed to our pantry to find another unopened box so I could fully cover the cardboard with this final matching thinner layer.

Image shows the same cardboard but this time the image is taken from higher up and a plastic container filled with Rice Krispy cereal sits on top. And empty cereal box sits to the side on top of the emptied and flattened one from before. — Luckily the kids had eaten just enough Rice Krispies that there was enough room to empty an entire new box in there too. This way I had two emptied Rice Krispy cereal boxes I could use. Normally the kids need to finish the entire container before we add more but I figured this was a special and required occasion.

Image shows the lightened cardboard square with the two cereal boxes glued down side by side and slightly overlapping. — I trimmed the flaps off of one side of either box before gluing both of the boxes down with those flattened edges overlapping. I wanted the overlap to be as non-apparent as it could be.

With all the needed layers glued together it was time to find a safe place to lay the cardboard out so it could dry without being bumped. I also knew I needed a heavy weight to hold the layers down so they could be as securely glued down as possible. I ended up placing the cardboard beside our couch so the side table could keep the four corners down. I then grabbed my hand weights to add more pressure.

Image shows the cardboard laid out on a wood flour with a wooden piece of furniture with four legs on top of it and some bright orange, purple, and pink weights on too. — I placed the cardboard carefully on the floor and then added our small side table on top and then multiple hand weights.

Image shows the dried skateboard back on the table with some obvious and some less obvious imprints where the side table legs and weights laid. — I let the skateboard base dry over the next several days. It may have been fully dry after only one night but I left it until I was ready to go over the next step.

Looking back I’m glad I added the weights but wish I had distributed their weight more evenly. In the above photo you can see where the side table legs were along with a few imprints where the hand weights were. Maybe I could’ve grabbed a thick and sturdy book or something to go between the cardboard and end table legs to better distribute the weight over a greater area and thus cause the entire cardboard to be more even and less puckered in places.

Designing and Cutting Out the Skateboard Shape

With the base assembled and dried it was time to design how I wanted the skateboard to look. To do this I grabbed my base, a pencil, and my phone with a selection of screenshots from the video. Looking at the cardboard I realized it was too square like and I wanted the final skateboard to be more rectangular. That said I also wanted to take advantage of as much of the space as I could. As such I used the entire length of the cardboard for the length of the skateboard while sketching it out while also using most of the width to make it so it would still be rectangular but also use as much space as was viable. I started out by referring to the screenshot of the shield itself and made a point at the top where the edges will join before going to the other end to make the flat back of the skateboard. After joining those two ends together I flipped between the three screenshots at the top of this post to get the wheels, necklace, and other details in the shield added so I could easily add the details to my skateboard in the future.

Image shows the cardboard leaned up against my cupboards on the kitchen floor. On it you can see the skateboard sketched out showing the shield shape, it's details, the four wheels, and the lines were the necklace was used to attach them together. — I sketched the Princess Skateboarder’s skateboard directly onto the cardboard to get an idea of the final shape of the skateboard along with where the details should be placed.

Originally I was also planning on adding the details of the necklace and wheels to the underside of the skateboard too. That said I didn’t want to include them now as it was hard to line up the two before the skateboard shape was fully cut out. I had planned to cut it out, mark the sides where the necklace was, and then line them all up by joining those points on the underside. Instead I left the back blank and other than adding a protective layer of Mod Podge at the end, it’s still just a cardboard box.

With the sketch drawn it was time to cut out the skateboard. Up until a bit ago I hadn’t factored in how sturdy the skateboard base was going to be so I had planned to use scissors and X-Acto knives at this point. By now I had a growing realization that this wouldn’t work. I started trying to brainstorm other ways to cut the cardboard to the proper shape before thinking about using a serrated knife like a hacksaw or something. As we don’t own anything like that I hopped onto Amazon for an idea of what might be available and came across an electric knife as the heading including crafting foam along with the normal uses of carving meats, poultry, and bread. I remembered we had one that Matt used to use to carve the turkey although we haven’t used it in years. I dug it out of the cupboard and decided to use that… although I decided to not jump in right away as it was late at night and instead waited for mid-afternoon the following Saturday so the noise wouldn’t be too bad for the neighbors.

Image shows the electric knife base to the right with a red garbage tie keeping the electrical cord tied together. To the left lays the blades with a broken sad elastic between the two parts. — I knew exactly where the electric knife was but apparently it had been so long since we used it that the elastic band keeping the blades together had hardened and easily broke apart.

Image shows the cardboard sitting upright with two vertical cuts leading from the top to the join of each front wheel and the skateboard. To thr right another cut was done going along the side of a wheel, straight down to the skateboard, and then, before the cereal box seam, going outward to let that entire piece fall to the ground. That piece is now in the lower right of the photo beside the white extension cord for the electric knife. — I took it and the skateboard outside, plugged in the knife, and got to work. I started by adding cuts leading down to the sharp angles before trimming off the sides. I made sure to follow along the lines when I could in each cut but played it safe and left the interior corners, like around the wheels and necklace, to go over later once I got the hang of using the blade on cardboard and had some of the bulkier pieces cut off. I left the back of the skateboard uncut for a while so I could rest it on the ground while cutting the top and sides.

Image shows the skateboard turned sideways attached to a base resting on a white plastic chair. More pieces have been cut away compared to the previous photo and you can see some of it below. — After a bit I thought out loud to Matt about how I’d do the back of the skateboard and the details. He remembered he had a vice that he no longer used and brought it out to me. After making sure my skateboard was secured I moved my setup to an old plastic chair before moving the entire thing again to the table. This simple tool really helped me to get into all the smaller more detailed parts of the skateboard.

After cutting this, and the birds I was also attempting to make, I could feel my hands shaking as it remembered the vibrations of the knife. As such I decided, once I moved the knife, skateboard, and birds inside and cleaned up the cardboard, to save the rest for later. Once I was ready to continue I grabbed some sandpaper and smoothed out the ragged edges and the overlapping cereal boxes on top.

Once the skateboard was cut out from the base it was time to sand out all the raw edges to make them smoother. I also slightly sanded the join between the two cereal boxes so it would be less obvious.

With the cutting and sanding completed it was time to move onto the next step!

Detailing the Skateboard

When I sketched out the outline of the skateboard I made sure to also draw out the details I saw like the cross in the center of the shield, the border, and the necklace cord itself. I had a plan to make the grey bits (the cross and border of the shield) recessed compared to the dark grey bits and so decided to use paper mache to create that height difference. At this time I had already used paper mache on the helmet, will post about it next week, and so already had the brown paper, foam brush, and a bottle of Mod Podge out and ready to use. In the end I only added a couple of layers of paper to the dark grey section of the shield so the height difference between the two parts aren’t as great as I had planned. That said I love how the necklace and wheels turned out which may not have happened the same way if I hadn’t used paper mache at this point so I’m really glad I proceeded this way.

I wanted my project to be easily moved so I could work on it and set it aside whenever it needed it to have time to dry or if I had something else I needed to do. As such I kept my ripped up paper and supplies in a yellow bin we normally use for sensory play. All in all I used the paper, foam brush I bought in a large set from Michael’s, paper towel for spills, and the skateboard itself.

I wanted the necklace cord to be raised and apparent against the rest of the shield. For the first section I created the 3D effect by rolling up a piece of paper, gluing it down, and then repeating the process by overlapping rolled up pieces of papers to keep it going all the way across. That worked but it was cumbersome so I decided to change up my plan for the other sections. To change it I went to my yarn stash and grabbed a worsted brown cotton yarn which I then used for each crossing section of necklace on the shield. For each section I lined up a length of yarn to match that section’s length, folded it and remeasured three times so I’d have four matching lengths of yarn, cut the end from the ball, and twisted the yarn so it wouldn’t come apart too easily. I then used my foam brush to add Mod Podge to that section, stuck the yarn down, and then drizzled, dripped, and tapped more Mod Podge overtop. After using paper mache to attach more paper overtop, so it was secured, I then went on to the next section to repeat the process again.

Image shows a brown ball of yarn, the skateboard with four strands glued down and brown paper for the lower half. — The lowest necklace strand was made up with little bits of paper twisted and glued down. This was repeated with overlapping sections the entire length of the strand. The other strands, this and future ones, are all composed of four lengths of brown cotton yarn and then kept in place with the brown paper Mod Podge paper mache.

At this point I resumed thinking about the sail used by Princess Skateboarder in the video to get over the moat. In the video she flipped over her skateboard, created a sail on a wooden mast, pressed the mast’s bottom to the front the boat, and sailed across the moat. When planning before I had picked up some wooden dowels from Michael’s Arts and Crafts that I was still planning on using to make the sail although I hadn’t started yet. I originally planned to have Zoey also flip over her skateboard and thus was planning on making a hole in the cardboard for the wooden dowel mast to sit in. Over the last bit of time; however, I had started worrying about the top of the skateboard getting ruined if Zoey stood in her boat and, as such, I decided to take some creative license and have the sail rest on the top of the skateboard instead. Rather than making a hole in the skateboard I started wondering if I should add a pendant to the necklace near the front of the skateboard where the mast should go and have the connection point between the necklace strand and the pendant be more functional for the mast. I hadn’t made the sail yet but as I had already bought the dowels I was able to grab the largest one, place it in the center of the skateboard near the necklace, and use my pen to make an outline of it’s size. I decided to use the yarn to build the necklace’s connection point and then grabbed some extra napkins to make the pendant itself. I decided to go with a heart shaped pendant to match the Dollar Tree’s crown I had bought to go with Princess Skateboarder’s outfit. Once the yarn and heart-shaped napkin where glued down I grabbed more brown paper and covered it all up to smooth the whole thing out and shape it better.

Image shows the front of the skateboard with the dowel held above it, a circle marked near the brown yarn, and the pen set to the side. — I grabbed my dowel, placed it upright near the necklace and centered it on the skateboard where I thought the mast should be, and then used my pen to trace around it.

Image shows the skateboard with a small stack of heart shaped napkin layers placed next to the ink-marked circle. Near the bottom of the photo you can see the scissors and the rest of the napkin with the heart cut from the center. — Before making the connection I decided to figure out the pendant itself. The center gem in the crown I bought Zoey was heart-shaped so I decided to do the same here. I quickly looked around and decided to use some white napkins we had leftover from takeout.

Image shows the skateboard with the pieces cut out, prepped, and ready to glue down. — I then grabbed a length of yarn, cut it off, rolled up the center so it would encircle the marked circle, and then created a loop at the top with one end of the yarn and strand hanging down with the other end. The loop at the top was going to go under the necklace strand, that I hadn’t glued down yet, as if the pendant was simply hanging down from the necklace. The heart would be glued onto the other end of the yarn hanging down making the pendant look to be connected to the necklace with a decorative looping method that was also functional for when the skateboard becomes a boat.

Image shows the brown circle with a loop coming from either end glued down to the cardboard skateboard and coated in more white. The section underneath has more glue showing where the heart napkin will go next. — I glued down the yarn loop first as I wanted either end to be hidden by the necklace stand, at the top, and the pendant itself at the bottom. I was careful to keep the inked circle still visible on the inside of the yarn circle to make sure that the dowel will still fit inside even with the yarn covered in Mod Podged paper.

Image shows a closer look at the front of the skateboard showing the white heart pendant with the brown yarn necklace and decorative connection point. — After the loop was fixed to the cardboard it was time to add the final necklace strand, at the top, and the heart-shaped napkins for the pendant at the bottom.

Image shows the white napkin and top connection covered in light brown paper. The yarn necklace and circle is still uncovered and visible. — I then grabbed more Mod Podge and my brown paper to cover up the napkin and yarn.

Image shows the same front of the skateboard as before although this time there's a folded napkin with two angled ovals cut out and a stack of heart shaped napkins trying to fold back up beside it. — The napkin pendant didn’t seem big enough once covered so I grabbed the remaining napkins, folded them up two times, and then carefully cut out two sets of hearts along the main fold. After unfolding the hearts I stacked them on top of each other, glued them down to the original heart, and continued to apply the paper to cover it up again. Now the heart-shaped pendant was even more obvious.

Once the pendant was created it was time to go over the rest with paper mache. I had planned to only cover up the dark grey section of the shield but with the yarn necklace I realized I now needed to go over it’s entire strand so it’s firmly fixed in place. This way it would also be easier to paint as the yarn is totally covered. I made sure to glue down several layers of paper in the dark grey sections hoping there was still a mostly obvious height difference in the future. While doing this I also realized that I wanted to shape the wheels a bit so I added thicker paper, that I had cut off of the helmet, and used excess paper to help hold it down and round out the edges.

Image shows an overview of the skateboard with all the brown yarn hidden under the light brown paper. Off to the sides are the Mod Podge, scissors, tea, and water. — After getting the necklace figured out I carefully paper mached over all the yarn so it would be consistent the whole way across, stay attached, and be easier to paint.

Image shows the skateboard after it's been fully paper mached. The original cereal box shows through along the border of the shield, where the necklace isn't, and in the cross at the center except where the necklace is. — With the remaining skateboard I attempted to add height to the wheels, making them appear to be curved, by using thicker paper I had cut off of the helmet and then layered pieces of the thinner paper overtop. I also carefully went over the dark grey section of the shield being careful not to overlap into the light grey areas.

I could’ve added more layers of paper mache to make the heights of the sections more drastically different but I decided to stop here so the skateboard would still be easy to stand on for Zoey and have the paint speak for the sections instead.

Painting and Protecting the Skateboard

I went with simple acrylic craft paint to color the skateboard as I felt it would be bright and sturdy enough for the task. I also had the proper colors on hand from buying it years ago for the kids to decorate rocks again although they’ve only used it once or twice. As I had a light grey available, but not a dark one, I decided to start with the light grey sections. I thought this was going to take me several days so I decided I’d go to Michael’s the next day to buy dark grey as I worried mixing it myself would cause some areas to be too dark or light compared to others. I needn’t have worried as I instead painted both this and the helmet in one night and loved how they looked with the dappled dark grey caused by combining old clumpy white paint with black acrylic paint. Anyway, once I painted the light grey sections I referred to the Dollar Tree crown and painted the heart-shaped jewel a bright blue. I then grabbed black to paint the necklace cord, and then added clumpy white to the leftover black paint to make a dark grey so I could continue right away. I finally painted the wheels brown but added some of the grey on top to make it look more used.

Image shows a closeup of the heart jewel on the cheap silver crown. — I quickly conferred with the Dollar Tree crown to help decide what paint I’d use for the heart-shaped pendant.

Image is taken from above showing the painting setup (lower left), the skateboard (bottom), helmet (top right), and Matt's LEGO (top left). — I started out by using the light grey I already had to paint the visor of the helmet, the grey bits of the skateboard, and apply a shadow along the length of the necklace strands. I applied this undercoat as I worried about painting the dark grey over the black necklace stand so I wanted something there to show through if the dark grey and black didn’t quite meet at all the points.

Once all the parts of the skateboard, and helmet, where done and dried it was time to protect the final product with a layer of Hard Coat Mod Podge. For the skateboard I did this in three separate sessions. The first session I painted the top of the skateboard and along the edge of the sides as I didn’t want Mod Podge to dribble down and stick the skateboard to the table. In the second session I flipped the skateboard over and applied more Mod Podge to the sides and the entire underside of the skateboard. Just in time for the final session I realized I could put plastic cups under the skateboard so I was free to paint all the sides and the top without worrying about the skateboard getting stuck to the table.

Image shows the top side of the skateboard beside the helmet. Both are coated in white streaks of Mod Podge but have the painted color showing through underneath. — For all three sessions I poured the Mod Podge onto the skateboard and used the pools of it to paint the harder to get to sections like the helmet and sides of the skateboard. I then dipped my brush into the bottle to get the final unpainted parts.

Image is taken from the side looking at the skateboard and helmet on the table showing off how they're balanced above so they aren't glued down to the table. — I wish I thought about it earlier but I loved when I realized I could put four plastic cups upside down and use them to hold the skateboard above the table.

I love how it turned out but I do have a small regret. As I did the layers of Mod Podge I realized my foam brush was getting noticeably used. By the end there was a small hole on either side where the brown dowel handle started poking through the foam. The frugal part of me didn’t want to use a new brush close to the end so I had just kept using it. After the final layer of Mod Podge had dried I realized I that the odd bit of brush had remained encased inside it. Overall the bits aren’t too noticeable but it is something to keep in mind the next time I might make this.

Image shows a closeup of the dried skateboard with black flecks showing over the light grey cross. — If you look closely at the skateboard you can see the odd black fleck from the foam brush.

And with that Princess Skateboarder’s skateboard was done!

The Final Skateboard

Image shows the top of the skateboard as it sits on the table and leans against the wall. — I absolutely adore how the final skateboard came out…. although looking back I maybe should’ve painted the underside and sides so it’s not still cardboard colored. Either way the top is gorgeous!

Image shows the skateboard leaning against the back of a chair with it's matching knight's helmet displayed in front of it. — The final skateboard with matching helmet! I will post the helmet in an upcoming post.

I absolutely love how the skateboard turned out and I’m so glad I thought to use an electric knife as I don’t know how I would’ve cut the cardboard with anything else. Although I made this specifically for Zoey’s Princess Skateboarder’s costume I wonder what else I could make following similar steps.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below if this helped you make a costume whether it’s for Princess Skateboarder herself or for something else entirely. If it was for something else what did you make? I’d love to hear about it and I hope you’re having an awesome day!

If you’re interested in getting any of my future blog updates I currently come out with a new one every Wednesday and share them to my Facebook page and Instagram account. You’re also more than welcome to join my email list located right under the search bar or underneath this post.

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