{"id":194224,"date":"2025-06-18T11:08:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/194224\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T11:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:08:14","slug":"dad-who-couldnt-afford-toys-for-daughter-now-makes-them-out-of-cardboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/194224\/","title":{"rendered":"Dad who couldn’t afford toys for daughter now makes them out of cardboard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Samuel Wilde started making cardboard toys for his daughter after all his bank cards were declined while trying to buy a new toy for her\"SamuelSamuel Wilde<\/p>\n

A theatre designer has opened up about how he started his career by making toys for his daughter.<\/p>\n

Samuel Wilde, 38, has made a name for himself by crafting whole sets, props, and puppets from cardboard, with his designs appearing in productions at renowned venues such as Shakespeare’s Globe and the Bristol Old Vic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Starting as a simple project to make toys for his daughter, he soon turned this creative outlet into his full-time profession, committed to sustainability by using almost entirely reused or offcut cardboard found in old boxes from local shops.<\/p>\n

His dedication to eco-friendly design practices has earned him an Olivier Award nomination, Britain’s top theatrical honour.<\/p>\n

Samuel, from Bristol, said: “Sustainability is really at the heart of everything I do and it runs through every stage of my process.<\/p>\n

“Around 90% of what I use comes from old boxes I collect from local shops.<\/p>\n

“I design with reusability in mind, making pieces that can be taken apart, reassembled or recycled with ease.”<\/p>\n

As a result, I’ve been lucky to work on some truly special shows.”<\/p>\n

His career spans over a decade and a half, with his craftsmanship journey in theatre set design starting in 2009, followed by an MA in Theatre Design at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School which he completed in 2015.<\/p>\n

The idea to use cardboard came five years ago, when his daughter asked for a toy boat.<\/p>\n

\"ExamplesExamples of his work<\/p>\n

Samuel had promised his daughter Clementine, now nine, a new toy but when they got to the shop, all of his bank cards were declined.<\/p>\n

They returned home empty-handed and that night, while Clementine slept, Samuel found some spare cardboard boxes and started crafting.<\/p>\n

Samuel recalled: “It was the most shame I’ve ever felt and we left the shop empty-handed.<\/p>\n

“After she was asleep I couldn’t stop thinking about it.<\/p>\n

“I saw some cardboard boxes, as we’d just moved, and I got to work.”<\/p>\n

“I stayed up all night making her a cardboard boat.”<\/p>\n

“The next morning she was so happy and proud.”<\/p>\n

\"Examples<\/p>\n

This experience sparked a creative journey, with Samuel continuing to craft cardboard toys for his daughter, each one becoming “bigger, better and sillier.”<\/p>\n

The hobby eventually evolved into a business, with Samuel launching Cardboard Adventures three years ago.<\/p>\n

As he reflected on his journey, Samuel said: “I started sharing what we made online and that joy started to seep into everything, even my theatre work.”<\/p>\n

“Now I’m the cardboard guy.<\/p>\n

“It’s won me awards, even had an Olivier nominated show this year.”<\/p>\n

\"Examples<\/p>\n

Samuel has found that the reusability, durability and availability of cardboard as a material is often underestimated.<\/p>\n

He emphasized: “The advantages of cardboard massively outweigh the downsides.”<\/p>\n

“People often assume it’s not durable but that hasn’t been my experience at all.”<\/p>\n

“Two years ago, I made a show The I Want My Hat Back Trilogy with over 100 cardboard puppets and a cardboard set.”<\/p>\n

It toured nationally, had long sold-out runs, Christmas residencies and in all that time, we’ve only had to repair one puppet.”<\/p>\n

“It’s also cheap, often free and incredibly accessible.”<\/p>\n

“You don’t need expensive tools; you can cut it with a scalpel, a craft saw, electric scissors, or just your hands.<\/p>\n

“That low-stakes flexibility is part of the magic. It’s made for trying things out, taking risks and making mistakes.”<\/p>\n

\"Examples<\/p>\n

Since establishing his company, Samuel has showcased his work in theatres across Bristol and London.<\/p>\n

This includes renowned puppet theatres such as Little Angel Theatre in Islington and Polka Theatre, where The Nutcracker received an Olivier nomination.<\/p>\n

He also contributed to The Fir Tree at Shakespeare’s Globe and Arabian Nights at Bristol Old Vic.<\/p>\n

Samuel expressed: “The Fir Tree at The Globe and The Nutcracker at Polka Theatre both stand out as truly special productions.<\/p>\n

“But if I had to choose just one, it would be The I Want My Hat Back Trilogy with Little Angel Theatre.<\/p>\n

“That show propelled my career and really changed everything for me.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samuel Wilde started making cardboard toys for his daughter after all his bank cards were declined while trying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,28103,748,393,4884,1232,457,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-194224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-old-vic","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-money","14":"tag-people","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114704056752449565","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}