From Around the House
Make a bed trayHave breakfast in bed on a tray made from a cardboard box. Just remove the top flaps and cut arches from the two long sides to fit over your lap. Decorate the bottom of the box -- which is now the top of your tray -- with adhesive shelf paper and you're ready for those bacon and eggs.
Shield doors and furnitureUse cardboard shields to protect doors and furniture from stains when you polish doorknobs and furniture pulls. Cut out the appropriate-sized shield and slide it over the items you are going to polish. This works best when you make shields that slip over the neck of knobs or knoblike pulls. But you can also make shields for hinges and U-shaped pulls.
Create gift-wrap suspenseTake a cue from the Russians and their nesting matryoshka dolls. Next time you are giving a small but sure-to-be appreciated gift to a friend, place the gift-wrapped little box inside a series of increasingly bigger gaily wrapped boxes.
Make dustcoversKeep dust and dirt out of a small appliance, power tool, or keyboard. Cut the flaps off a cardboard box that fits over the item, decorate it or cover it with self-adhesive decorative paper, and use it as a dustcover.
Make an office in-boxMaking an in-box (or out-box) for your office desk is easy. Simply cut the top and one large panel off a cereal box; then slice the narrow sides at an angle. Wrap with self-adhesive decorative paper.
Make place matsCut several 12 x 18-inch (30 x 45-centimeter) pieces of cardboard and cover them with colorful adhesive shelf paper or other decoration.
Play liquor box "ski ball" Transform your rec room or backyard into a carnival midway. Just leave the dividers in place in an empty wine or liquor carton. Place the carton at an angle and erect a small ramp in front (a rubber mat over a pile of books will do). Assign numbered values to each section of the carton, grab a few tennis or golf balls and you're ready to roll.
For Storing Things
Protect glassware or lightbulbsA good way to safely store fine crystal glassware is to put it in an empty wine or liquor carton with partitions. You can also use it for storing lightbulbs, but be sure to sort the bulbs by wattage so that it's easy to find the right one when you need a replacement.
Make a magazine holderStore your magazines in holders made from empty detergent boxes. Remove the top, then cut the box at an angle, from the top of one side to the bottom third of the other. Cover the holders with self-adhesive decorative paper.
Poster and artwork holderA clean liquor carton with its dividers intact is a great place to store rolled-up posters, drawings on paper, and canvases. Just insert the items upright between the partitions.
Store Christmas ornamentsWhen you take down your Christmas tree, wrap each ornament in newspaper or tissue paper and store it in an empty liquor box with partitions. Each of the carton's segments can hold several of the wrapped holiday tree ornaments.
For the Kids
Create an impromptu sledUse a large cardboard box to pull a small child (or a load of firewood) over the snow.
Garage for toy vehiclesTurn an empty large appliance box on its side and let the kids use it as a "garage" for their wheeled vehicles. They can also use a smaller box as a garage for miniature cars, trucks, and buses.
Make a puppet theaterStand a large cardboard box on end. Cut a big hole in the back for puppeteers to crouch in and a smaller one high up in the front for the stage. Decorate with markers or glue on pieces of fabric for curtains.
Organize kids' sporting goodsKeep a decorated empty wine or liquor carton with partitions, and with the top cut off, in your child's room and use it for easy storage of tennis rackets, baseball bats, fishing poles, and such.
Make a play castleTurn a large appliance cardboard box into a medieval castle. Cut off the top flaps and make battlements by cutting notches along the top. To make a notch, use a utility knife to make a cut on either side of the section you want to remove, then fold the cut section for-ward and cut along the fold. To make a drawbridge, cut a large fold-down opening on one side that is attached at the bottom. Connect the top of the drawbridge to the sidewalls with ropes on either side, punching holes for the rope and knot-ting the rope on the other side. Use duct tape to reinforce the holes. Also cut out narrow window slits in the walls. Let the kids draw stones and bricks on the walls.
For the Do-It-Yourselfer
Repair a roofFor temporary repair on your roof, put a piece of cardboard into a plastic bag and slide it under the shingles.
Organize your workshopA sectioned wine or liquor carton is a great place to store dowels, moldings, furring strips, weather stripping, and metal rods.
Store tall garden toolsTurn three empty liquor cartons into a sectioned storage bin for your long-handled garden tools. Put a topless box on the floor with the dividers left in. Then cut the tops and bottoms off two similar boxes and stack them so the dividers match up. Use duct tape to attach the boxes to each other. Use the bin to store hoes, rakes, and other long-handled garden tools.
Protect work surfacesKeep work surfaces from being damaged. Flatten a large box or cut a large flat piece from a box and use it to protect your countertop, work-bench, table, or desk from ink, paint, glue, or nicks from knives and scissors. Just replace it when it becomes messed up.
Protect your fingersOuch! You just hammered your finger instead of the tiny nail you were trying to drive. To keep this from happening again, stick the little nail through a small piece of thin cardboard before you do your hammering. Hold the cardboard by an edge, position the nail, and pound it home. When you're done, use your bruise-free fingers to tear away the cardboard.
Keep upholstery tacks straightReupholstering a chair or sofa? Here's a neat way to get a row of upholstery tacks perfectly straight and evenly spaced. Mark the spacing along the edge of a light weight cardboard strip and press the tacks into it. After driving all of the tacks most of the way in, tug on the strip to pull the edge free before driving in the rest of the way.
Make a drip panPrevent an oil leak from soiling your garage floor or driveway. Make a drip pan by placing a few sheets of corrugated cardboard in a cookie sheet and placing the pan under your car's drip. For better absorption, sprinkle some cat litter, sawdust, or oatmeal into the pan on top of the cardboard. Replace with fresh cardboard as needed.
Help your mechanicSomething is dripping from your car's engine, but you don't know what. Instead of blubbering helplessly to your mechanic about it, place a large piece of cardboard under the engine overnight and bring it with you when you take the car in for service. The color and location of the leaked fluid will help the mechanic identify the problem.
THESE ARE GREAT IDEAS, SHOE BOXES ARE GREAT TOO. USE SMALL ONES FOR YOUR SPICES IN A CABINET JUST PULL IT OUT AND THEY ARE ALL THERE FOR YOUR USE. LARGE ONES ARE GREAT FOR STORING ALL THE WIRES AND EXTRA CHARGERS FOR YOUR ELECTRONICS