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Review: DIY Box Creations

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DIY box creations reviewI’ve always been the sort of person who wants to hang on to happy trash, shorthand for things that might otherwise be thrown out or recycled but that could also be used for creative projects.

Now I’m going to be hoarding empty boxes even more than usual in the hope that we can make some of the projects from DIY Box Creations: Fun and Creative Projects to Make out of Really Big Boxes.

Courtney Sanchez has gathered a dozen fun projects using large cardboard boxes in this book. The projects include:

  • airplane
  • rocket ship
  • boxcar
  • train table
  • hot air balloon costume
  • indoor doghouse
  • retro stove
  • dollhouse
  • puppet theater
  • fort
  • lemonade stand
  • sailboat

The book starts with general tips and a rundown of important supplies, and each project is shown in multiple steps so it’s easy to pull them together. The idea is that kids ages 8 to 12 can make these projects themselves with supervision, but grown ups could make them for younger kids as well.

These projects are cute, clever and a lot more detailed than the projects my daughter and I have made with big boxes in the past.

The train table, for instance, is stunning, with boxes mounted on plastic cups to give the table height and built-in storage for the tracks and trains. I also love the retro stove, which uses dowel rods and milk jug lids to make pulls and knobs. The puppet theater is great, too, and the fort has a Minecraft theme if you know any kids who are into that.

If kids help construct these creations, there’s a lot of learning to be done, including by following directions, engineering and constructing with their boxes, and the creative play that is sure to follow when the boxes have been transformed.

This book is a lot of fun and you might just find yourself buying moving boxes so you can make some of these projects.

Do you have a favorite thing to make out of cardboard boxes? I’d love to hear about it!

About the book: 80 pages, paperback, 12 projects. Published by Walter Foster Jr., September 2016. Retail price $9.99.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

10 Fun Ways to Decorate Easter Eggs

If you’re looking to go beyond the dye kits at the store for your Easter eggs this year, I’ve collected 10 fun ways to dye or otherwise decorate your Easter eggs. These are fun STEM and craft experiments for kids and are pretty fun for grownups, too.

One of the most popular ways to dye Easter eggs while still using items from the store is to use natural dyeing methods with vegetables, fruit and spices. I’m sharing links to a few different posts here because people have slightly different methods or recipes for achieving different colors, but the basic procedure explained by Real Life at Home is a good one. 

Check the recipe suggestions at Kaleyann, Mommypotamus and Your Home Based Mom, and let kids raid the kitchen or pick some fun things from the grocery store to try. Make sure to keep good records so you can repeat the process next year!

Another easy method to try is dyeing eggs with food coloring. This can make more vibrant colors than you tend to get from natural dyes, but it’s still an easy method and can be done with things you already have in the house. Check out these tips from Studio DIY to get started.

If you want to use food coloring to color your eggs but want to give them a different look, try this method of dyeing eggs with rice from Kids Activity Zone. Or get a marbled look by dyeing eggs with whipped cream, like these from My Home Based Life. So fun and messy!

For less traditional looking eggs, try dyeing eggs with old silk ties or shirts. The pattern from the fabric transfers to the egg in a unique way that’s a lot of fun to try. Get the instructions from A Thrifty Mom.

Use markers and coffee filters for an easy, pretty, low-mess way to color eggs. Learn how at The Savvy Sparrow. Or bring some nature to your egg decorating with these pretty pressed flower eggs from Little Pine Learners.

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