How to Paint Your Cardboard Project

Use Acrylic or Latex House Paint

The best paint to use is regular house paint like you buy at the hardware store. Quality of the paint is irrelevant, so buy the cheapest you can find. Some discount stores have generic brands for as little as $9/gallon. Better yet, ask if they have shelf for returned or mismatched paint - usually 50% off. Both acyrlic and latex paint are water based so cleanup is very easy, and come in various finishes like gloss, semi-gloss and matte. Latex paint is rubbery when dry and maybe a little better as a protective layer that can repel water and make for easy clean-up of birthday cake frosting and sticky ice cream fingers.

Use a Paint Pad

Professional painters hate these things because they spread the paint too thin, but with cardboard this can be an advantage. Cardboard warps when it gets wet, and applying a thick layer of paint can ruin the look of your project. Using a paint pad allows you to quickly add a thin coat of paint that will minimize warping, and dries in about five minutes. Some people prefer to use multiple coats of paint to cover up the box markings, but I've gotten to the point where I kinda like to see the box markings under the paint. It helps to emphasize that I built this cool thing out of recycled boxes! Another option is to mask the box markings using a brown spray paint, and this greatly reduces the need for multiple coats of paint.

Paint First or Assemble First?

There's no right answer for this one, and it's kind of a tricky question. It depends on what you are building and what technique you are using to decorate it. If you are going to paint your whole project with a base color, then it's easier to do this prior to cutting up all the boxes and assembling your project. If you use a paint pad as described above, the paint dries very quickly and boxes can be painted and assembled all in the same session. If you are applying a pattern or decoration using a mini paint roller, markers or some other special tool, then you will want to do this after the project is assembled. That way the pattern will flow nicely from one box to the next. This is difficult to do without first assembling your project.