McGroovy's Photo Gallery

"We just had to tell you how great your product is. My husband was able to turn our swing set into a wonderful castle using your rivets. It was the highlight of the party. The kids weren't interested in any party games, they just wanted to play in the castle. Thanks!"

"My kids are dressed up as Bob the Builder and Wendy, with their bulldozer, Scoop. Its the same design as Thomas from last year. I used a car seat box for the vehicle, and cardboard tubes for the scoop arms, and foam board for the scoops and the wheels. I used yellow tape for the color, and I printed scoops face very large off a pic on the internet. It took a year until we used them, but the rivets came in very handy. You make a cool product."

"Just wanted to say I am so glad I stumbled onto your site from the International Talk Like a Pirate Day site. I have enclosed pictures of my version of your deluxe ship. The kids at my son's 4th birthday party had so much fun crawling around in the ship; and I had almost as much fun building it. Thanks!"

"My daughter, Christina, recently had a princess party so of course I had to make your castle. I had several furniture boxes that were just a bit smaller than appliance boxes. I had to paint in the middle of my living room after my kids were in bed so I ran out of time to paint details on it all but everyone was pleased with it anyhow. I painted it all gray, added details to what would be the front sections, and transported the pieces to our church where I used the rivets to assemble it. We had the party at our church so that we had plenty of room for the castle since we couldn't have the party outside in Ohio in January. "Awesome!" was the most common response as the kids entered the party and saw the castle. After the party, I removed the girly touches and moved the castle to one of the Sunday school classrooms where the kids continue to enjoy it. Thank you for such an imaginative product."

"Kids had a ball, and so did parents! We set up a make up station with wetones and kid friendly make up, to piniata filled with jewelery, to fairy canopy etc."

"First, let me say how much we appreciate all of your help posted on your web site. The information was VERY useful and appreciated. Thanks to you and all of your hard work and talent, my three year old had the best 3rd birthday party this side of the Mississippi! Secondly, I owe big thanks to Conn's warehouse in Carrolton, Texas. Ben and his guys were fantastic in helping me get the boxes I needed, which were more than your plans called for. I hope anyone reading this will give their business to Conn's Electronics every chance they get, we are! I also owe many thanks to the ladies at Lowe's in the shipping/receiving dept. They too came through with some GREAT boxes, unlike their main competitor (HD)... Finally, the castle... Our castle measured 17'x19'. We elected to sponge on the paint and draw in bricks around doors and windows. Surprisingly, it turned out good. It also has a slide that started in a rear bailey and ended in the courtyard. What fun! We added a draw bridge with plastic chains and a royal red carpet for the arriving guests. By entering and going right, the royal guests went into a front right tower which lead to a rear right tower. In the rear right tower we hung butcher paper on the walls along with crayons, where the kids had an opportunity to draw and leave birthday messages for my little princess. By entering to the left, royal guests entered the front left tower, which led to the Keep in the rear - from the keep they entered another tower - climbing a 4' ladder and dropping down a 7' long slide. The base of the slide was constructed of wood and covered with a refrigerator box in order to protect from splinters, etc. We were advised that due to the mass amount of fun and excitement, we should have parents of our little royal guests sign a waiver allowing their child to play in the castle. The waiver released my wife and I of any liability of accidents which might occur. I wasn't sure how that would work out with guests, but no one seemed to have minded at all. We also had adults posted within the castle to help the kiddos travel through. I am sorry the pictures are limited to frontal shots. Because of the unpredictable weather in North Texas, we were forced to build the castle in our garage making it impossible to take good indoor and perimeter shots. If we can be of help to you or any of your clients, please do not hesitate to contact us. BTW - the castle still sits in our garage for post birthday fun. It is unbelievable how that thing stood up to 18 kids going crazy in that thing!"

"Just wanted to send a picture of our castle that we created with the help of your rivets and step by step instructions...It was for our Daughters 3rd birthday. It really made the party one to remember. Attached are some pics of our creation. We created the castle in our basement. Hopefully it will inspire others to make things using your kits inside as well."

"Merry Christmas Mr. McGroovy! Just some Photos of "Gingerbread" house I made using box rivets, boxes and candy (no gingerbread). Kids loved it! Glad I found your web site and love box rivets. Thanks again!"

"Just wanted to share some pics of my son Lucas’ 4th Birthday. Being a pirate party, the pirate ship was a huge success and the talking point of the party. My son & I made the pirate ship the week before, and thankfully it lasted a week of him playing in it before the party. I decided not to put sails on as he had so much fun using it as a cubby the masts would have got in the way. I also made palm trees from leftover cardboard and they helped to set the scene. I used the rivets to join the tree trunks to the palms and also used them to hang the trees to the bamboo, this was very useful as the card was too heavy for tape or blu tack. It stormed the night before and the trees got wet and came off, but once dry it was very easy to put them back up thanks to the rivets...Thanks again for creating such a great product and posting them all the way to Australia."

"We built a 30' by 30' castle for my princess. The rivets helped to hold the castle up all day. Everyone loved the castle, and after the party my sister took the castle home."

"The sleigh is finished!! It looks GREAT. We altered your design a little because we wanted it to be a facade that fit over a wagon so we could pull the sleigh down the street in our parade. All we did was take what you used as the bottom and moved it up to right below the door opening.....that then rested on the top of the wagon and POOF.....we had a moving sleigh to be pulled by 8 Girl Scout reindeer :-) We also covered it in glitter and lights because the parade is at night and we wanted it to be shiny and bright. Thanks SOOOOOO much for the idea to go from!!"

"I just wanted to take some time to thank you so much for your wonderful website. I purchased your box rivets to make a princess castle for my daughter's 3rd birthday. They are wonderful (just as your site says)! I am excited to use them for many years to come. My daughter and her friends had a wonderful time in the castle and all of the parents were amazed that I had put this together with cardboard boxes! What great entertainment for the children and very inexpensive. Again, thank you for your wonderful website. It is very much appreciated!"

Nicole M. from Higgins, Australia, built this absolutely amazing collection of Thomas the Tank Engine Trains for her son's birthday.

"Here are a couple of photos from our Ghost Town event for Halloween. It worked out great...Behind the cobwebs is a ‘cave’ of boxes that worked great. I appreciate the help and the inspiration on the website! I’ll be checking back soon to get some more ideas for fun stuff to make. Thanks again for the help and suggestions!"

"I took a week off to visit my daughters family and build a cardboard clubhouse for my three granddaughters in their unfinished basement. I finished early so I also build three play vehicles, one for each girl. Your rivets made the project go much easier...I also found that one of those plastic wide mouth vise-grip clamps really helped to squeeze the rivets together."

"Here are the pictures of the castle we built for our twin daughters birthday party. It was a hit! Thank you so very much for all the fun we had making it and playing in it. We DEFINITELY could never have made it without your rivets. They were easy to install and held up to 45 children running through the castle. You can see the shields and swords we made lying on the ground. Thanks again. The wonderful memories made yesterday (with your help) will last a lifetime. Best wishes for future success."

"Just wanted to let you know how awesome the pirate ships turned out for my son’s 4th birthday party. Thanks so much for the cool ideas; we had as much fun building them as we did “sailing” them. Keep those plans coming!!"

"Just thought that you might like to see what this years box rivet project was. It was built on top of a radio flyer wagon so that we could walk around the neighborhood and trick or treat from it." (Scroll way down to see Jerry's amazing pirate ship!)

"My wife used your product to build the Black Pearl and her friends built the chinese theater for our daughters prom last year. Here are pictures of her work. Fun stuff."

"Just wanted to thank you again for all the great help building a castle for our son's 4th birthday. We used every tip you provided -- from how to get free boxes to how to paint the castle -- and you never once steered us wrong. And the longer rivets worked perfectly! My husband and I had a lot of fun building the castle, and the look on my son's face -- and the faces of the 29 preschoolers who attended the party -- made all the effort totally worthwhile. Thanks for memories that will last a lifetime!"

"Hi, I purchased 2 boxes of rivets from you a few weeks ago, I just wanted to say how happy we were with them. They are awesome!"

"We built the castle for my son's 4th birthday party. It was a big hit! All of the kids loved sitting in the "king's throne". The rivets worked great!"

"We just wanted to say thank you for you site and the great rivets!! Our son recently turned 4 and had a pirate themed party. We found your site and saw the blueprints for the pirate ship and had to build it! We live in Maryland and the party was in NJ, so we built in in our garage and when it was time for the party, we used the rivet remover and took it apart, packed it up in the van, put it together again and it was in perfect condition! The rivet remover worked perfectly! Everyone thought we rented the ship for the party! It was easy to assemble and was a hit! The kids had a BLAST with it and it held up great!

Thank you so much and we can't wait for next year to build something new!!!"

"This spectacular Medieval fortress would not have been possible had we not found your web site. The rivets allowed us to create 'towering' towers and the painting of the castle stones was nothing short of miraculous. It was amazing to see a large blank canvas come to life with just a black Sharpie and 2 colors of paint. We created an entrance to a Medieval village (a few hours before it had been an ordinary high school) with your help and by adding some extra touches we think it came out pretty amazing. We hope you enjoy these photos. We had a great time creating McGroovy's castle for our after-prom party."

" I just wanted to share some photo's of our castle using your box rivets. This castle is 18 feet wide and 21 feet long. The front towers are 10 feet high and the back towers are 8 feet high. We had over 600 kids go through the tunnel the day of the Children's Festival in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. They all enjoyed it very much. It was your box rivets with the pattern that gave us the inspiration to build this castle 3 times bigger. I hope you will continue to put more patterns for your box rivets on your web site."

"I'm glad I finally decided to try your rivets. I made a castle with my daughter. She had a blast making it and enjoyed it even more when she was able to share it with her friends during her birthday party. I wasn't able to find refrigerator boxes so I just bought 4'x 8' sheets of cardboard. I spent 30 bucks for 10 sheets and had the advantage of being able to fold the sheets however I wanted. The gold sign is cardboard as well with a gold cloth glued on top. We can't wait until the next party!"

"Attached are 2 pictures of the steam engine that I made for our Little League Opening Day Parade using your plans and rivets. We are the Astros this year. One of the attractions at Minute Maid Field is the steam engine with oranges in the coal car. Every time a home run is hit, the engine moves and blows it whistle. We decided to adapt this concept for our parade float. We used smoke bombs for the smoke and orange helium balloons for the oranges. When they announced our team we let the balloons go. The float was a hit and we one first place. Your rivets were so easy to work with. I can't wait until next year's competition."

"Just wanted to show you what I build in my first attempt. I kinda wanted to take the castle theme to the next level. What you're seeing is a prototype of a set I built for children's church. I didn't have time to paint it because I took it apart and rebuilt it with about 8 children's ministers at a conference in Missouri. This was a conference specifically for small churches who have small budgets and no budget for large and creative stage sets or props. It was a privilege to introduce them to building with cardboard and rivets... and boy were they excited. It was so fun showing them what could be done with a box cutter, tape measure, a screw driver and a whole bunch of rivets. At the end of the conference we drew names and one lucky church got to take it home with them to finish. They can paint it as a castle or a frontier fort. They'll also be cutting windows for puppets when they get home."

"When I decided to build not 1, but 2, pirate ships for my son's birthday party, I didn't know where to begin. I'm so glad I found you! It was unbelievably easy (and I am NOT handy) and surprisingly fun. Taking them apart was no trouble. The rivet remover was so easy, that even my 7-year old was able to help. Thanks for a great product."

"Here's what my media center looked like on March 2, Read Across America Day. Various teachers built "reading caves" for kids to kip back in and read for a while. Here's my effort: Hogwarts. It occupies an aisle and is entered on the other side. I wish I had a full shot of it, but the super hut was blocking it. I had a great time designing it and building it. The box rivets were perfect!"

"Thank you so much for your website, castle plans and of course box rivets! For my son's 7th birthday he had a knights and Dragons party. We planned on building the whole castle and having the party outdoors.... but of course it rained so we changed plans and made a dungeon at the last minute. As you can see in the picture we used the rivets to put the door on and also to connect the 2 refrigerator boxes together. All the kids had a blast and the parents all thought the dungeon was awesome. Thanks again for this site and all the great ideas!"

"Just wanted to let you know that we used your rivets to build our daughter a castle for her 3-year old princess birthday party. I got some great ideas from what you and others had done. Thanks for the design ideas and - of course - thanks for the rivets!"

"Thanks a bunch for the cool rivets and ideas. We did a variation of your princess carriage and made two train box cars. After we got them together I realized that I had enough cardboard left over to make a small front grill, train whistle and steering wheel. Yes, I know trains don't have steering wheels. However, my 3 year old loved the fact that she could drive the train. The trains were a big hit at her party."

"The 20 or so preschoolers at our party all had a fantastic time. Nearly three hours of screaming and laughter - priceless. Thanks so much for your rivets and other great ideas."

Lulu adds this great advise for painting the brick pattern:
"Btw, we painted half the castle with a large sponge (as recommended on your site), and half with a small paint roller, and found that the roller was a lot faster & more efficient, & still made very stone-like stones."

"Our daughters birthday party was a hit. Everyone loved the castle and wanted me to send your website link to them! :) Here are some pictures. Thanks again for the great idea!"

"I used your swell rivets to make a doghouse for my daughter's puppy-themed birthday party. The doghouse uses four pieces of cardboard plus some spare strips as roof connectors. It's great for indoor fun for our "wimpier than usual" Minnesota winter."


Mark also offers this advise:
"We got the hats and supplies at a party supply store, Party America. They had a whole puppy theme section. Our activity was to make dog collars, which were green felt strips and they glued little decorations on them. Velcro dots were glued on the ends. They are visible in the attached picture. My wife purchased the materials at a Michaels craft store."

Doghouse pieces:
2-44"x30" (front and back pieces)
2-25"x40" (sides)
1-54"x40" (roof)
4-2"x6" (roof connectors)
Instructions:
Finished doghouse base: 30" wide x 36" long x 44" high (does not include roof overlaps).
1. The roof and sides are simple rectangles.
2. The roof is folded halfway along the 56" edge and overlaps 2 or more inches on all sides of the doghouse.
3. The sides are folded 2" from each edge at 90 degrees so they can be attached to the front and back pieces with rivets.
4. The front and back pieces start as rectangles. Measure up 25" from the bottom on each long (44") side and then cut a diagonal to the center of the top edge (15 inches, one half of 30 inches wide).
5. Cut a hole in the front, about 20" wide and 25" high.
6. To make sure the roof stays put, fold the 2"x6" pieces in half lengthwise to make an L-shape. Rivet one edge to the inside of the roof and one edge to the inside of the front and/or back.
7. I cut holes in the top for light.
8. Holds four or more preschoolers!

"The kids at our pirate party thought the ship was "awesome". The plans were easy to follow and the rivets worked great. Our boys are already plotting what they want their Dad to build them next year for their next birthday. Thanks so much!"

Jerry M. from Gilbert, AZ built this amazing pirate ship for a pirate birthday party! Notice the movable cannons!

Lisa wrote to me wondering how to make a princess carriage for a play she was producing at school. You can see the plans I made for her posted on the Ideas page.

"Thank-you so so much for all your help!! I had no idea how much work I was in for with the play, but I loved it and can't wait to do it again next year. The Cinderella carriage was wonderful! Adults put the boxes together, but the kids drew the outlines and did all the painting. You might point that out in your web page that the cast of elementary and middle school kids did the decorating. They had loads of fun! Thank-you!"

"We built this castle for my daughter's 3rd birthday party. It was great! The kids had a blast and we even had a puppet show out of one of the front windows. We filled the center of the castle with lots and lots of balloons which was great fun for the kids."

Thank you again for this incredible invention of cardboard box rivets!!!

We rotated 140 kids... in groups of 4-6... and they worked for 3 days painting the truck and accessories. This week, being "safety" week, they get to play in it! Today was the first day and they had a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh what fun! The kids were so impressed with their work! As the groups went over to this Center to play, we had them "autograph" their names on the inside of the truck. They loved doing that!

The other volunteers in the Kindergarten Centers today were so impressed with how sturdy the fire truck is! That's because of the RIVETS at work!!! In fact, the entire school is so impressed! Thank You SO MUCH!!!!!!!

"I just wanted to let you know that I think your rivets are the best!! I was easily able to assemble this tank and it withstood 12 little boys playing army in it for a week. I plan on using your rivets whenever I need to create with cardboard."

"I wanted to share pictures of the completed pirate ship with you. The party was yesterday and it was a big success. I'm so excited I found your site. Thank you."

"We just had the party on Saturday and the castle was a hit. Thanks for all your help, custom castle sketch, dungeon suggestion, and rivets (couldn't have done it without them)."

"I made your castle for a children's program on the Armor of God. It was fantastic! We also used almost three bags of rivets since we knew we'd have many children crawling through it. It stood up to the onslaught well. The rivets worked wonderfully, and also removed easily. The kids had a blast, their mothers were awed by it and it was so incredibly easy to do. If anyone asks - as I'm sure they will - how we did it, you can be sure I'll send them to Mr. McGroovy's! Thanks for this great project!


UPDATE: I sent you a message and photos a week ago, but I just wanted to let you know the 'continuing saga' of the castle. If you recall, I had made the castle for a children's Bible Study I teach. After our year-end program with the castle, my husband and I disassembled it (partly) and took it to one of our local elementary schools where we both volunteer. On Friday, we set it up (after removing about two-thirds of the wall/tunnel boxes) in a common area in the 1st and 2nd grade area (I listen to 1st graders read). I was there on Monday with my students. We took our books out to the castle and we sat inside, but not in the tunnels (it's just TOO snug a fit for me!) While we were reading, a constant stream of kids was coming and going through the tunnels, carrying with them their pillows and books. The castle hardly moved and with the windows we'd cut in the towers (one per tower), there was plenty of light for them to read. The castle is a double success! I honestly cannot tell you how much I've enjoyed this project. It was easy and fun to do and THE KIDS LOVE IT!!! "

"Thank you so much for your design and your rivets! We had a ball making/painting this castle. I just can't say enough how much the kids loved this. Who would have thought that with boxes...and a little imagination you could come up with this!!! This trumps the inflatable jumpers that everyone seems to be having at parties lately! Thanks again"

"I've been meaning to contact you to let you know how much fun we had building our daughter's castle. It was a huge hit, and the rivets worked perfectly!"

"I got my castle put together today! I'm so excited. I've had one teacher even offer to buy it from me! I thought, 'it might be painted gray, but it's worth gold to me!! Ha!' "

"We loved the box rivets. I ended up using 4 refrigerator boxes and 3 washing machine boxes. I also printed out medieval pictures and taped them inside the boxes so the kids could see them along the way. The kids loved it all."