Need some Neo-classical supports for your museum?  This tutorial will show you how to make Ionic and Corinthian columns from cardboard tubes.

Museums, like the National Portrait Gallery shown above, are often built in a Neo-classical style that is meant to look like the ancient temples in Rome and Greece.  A solid column can be used for support and for decoration and will give your museum a touch of architectural class and stability.

What you’ll need:

Materials

• Cardboard paper towel tubes
• Cardboard toilet paper tubes
• Small scraps of cardboard
• Craft foam
• Aluminum cans
• Gesso
• Black paint

Tools

• Hot glue gun (Hot glue guns are dangerous.  Always use with adult supervision and remember to unplug the glue gun when you are finished)
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Marker
• Paintbrush

How to do it:

The cardboard tubes inside rolls of paper towels make great columns.  Take your cardboard tube and cut it to the height you need for your museum.  You may need to extend the length of your tube by taping it to another tube from paper towels or toilet paper.

For Ionic Columns:

Once you have your tube at the right length, cut a strip of corrugated cardboard that is about the same length and width as your tube.  

Roll up the strip of cardboard to make the volute (the scroll shape) that will form the capital (the top) of your column.  If you’re having trouble, try rolling the cardboard around a thick marker.  A few squirts of hot glue as you roll the cardboard will help to keep the spirals in place.

Now glue the capital to your tube.

To make the pedestal (the base) of your column, trace around the bottom of your tube on a piece of cardboard.

Now draw a bigger circle around the circle you traced and cut out the bigger circle.  

Repeat this step a couple time so that you have a series of larger and larger bases for your column.  Glue them onto the bottom of your tube.

If you want to make your column even taller and more imposing, glue it onto a aluminum can so that your pedestal is even larger.

Now your column is ready for painting.  Mix together some gesso and a drop of black paint to create a nice grey color that simulates marble. Use a wide brush to paint your entire column and let it dry.

To make your column extra realistic you can simulate flutes (grooves) along the shaft by drawing grey lines on with a marker.

For Corinthian Columns:

Corinthian columns are made just like Ionic columns except the capital is different.  On real Corinthian columns, the capital has bundles of acanthus leaves instead of the scroll found on Ionic columns.  To make the capital for a Corinthian column, just cut three or more strips of craft foam that are as long as the circumference of your tube.  

Snip the strips of foam to look like different kinds of leaves.  You can make them as simple or as complicated as you want.

Roll the strips around the top of your tube and glue them down so that they overlap each other.

Once all your strips are glued down, tussle up the “leaves” a bit and you are ready to paint.

Make as many columns as you need and experiment with different styles.  Maybe you want some Egyptian columns that look like bundled reeds of papyrus or modern columns that are just simple cylinders.