After holidays and birthdays do you end up with a lot of small boxes that you don’t want to throw out because you’re certain you can do something with them … but then they just end up in a pile gathering dust? With a bit of paint, paper, and glue, you can give a new look to those boxes and use them to organize all those tiny objects that never seem to have a proper home.
Craft Materials
- Small gift boxes and jewelry boxes of all sizes
- Acrylic paints and brushes
- Glitter glue
- White glue
- Paper – magazines or catalogs, scrapbook paper, gift wrapping paper
Recycling Crafts
You have a lot of options for decorating the boxes; I’ve offered a few suggestions but you can use your creativity to embellish the boxes however you’d like. Think about how you will use the boxes then you’ll know how much work you should do.
Paint – Use acrylic paints to paint the inside and outside of the boxes (if there are ribbons around the box, remove them first). Avoid layering on the paint too thickly so you don’t weaken the paper.
Glitter Glue – If the box has a pattern or a picture on it that you like you could just add some glitter glue to highlight parts of the image. Thin the glue with water (as long as it is not washable) and paint it over the entire box, perhaps after you paint it.
Paper – Wrap the top and bottom of the box separately. You can even glue a contrasting color paper to the inside of the top and bottom of the box. Trim excess paper so the box looks neat. You can cover the box with a thin layer of white glue and smooth the paper over the box.
Craft Ideas for Kids
Craft Sorters – Hot glue a series of boxes to a piece of foam core board or corrugated cardboard. Use each box to sort beads or clay by color. Keep the covers so the supplies stay in place. You can also organize chalk pastels so only similar colors touch and the sticks of pastel don’t end up coated in a multi-colored dust.
Rock and Mineral Collection – Use the bottom of the boxes to separate and display the rocks and minerals, that you’ve collected, and display them on a shelf.
Jewelry Organizers – The problem with using jewelry boxes to store your jewelry is that you can’t see in the boxes and you waste a lot of time opening and closing boxes. Instead decorate and glue the bottom of boxes to a piece of foam core board or corrugated cardboard. Sort earrings by colors or arrange matching sets in each box. Don’t put the covers on the boxes. Because the boxes stay together on the board you don’t have to move them around to find what you want.
Desk Organizer – Follow the suggestions for making the jewelry organizer. You can store paper clips, eraser, push pins, and other small items so they no longer get lost in a drawer.
Small boxes are a great way to organize the tiny treasure you collect, jewelry, desk supplies, and craft materials. Decorate the boxes so they match your room. You can also embellish larger boxes for bigger treasures.
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