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Don’t let a single box go to waste – check out these Awesome Things to make with Cardboard Boxes instead! Whatever the box size, we have a craft for you!

If there’s one thing I can guarantee enters and leaves your home on a regular basis, it’s a cardboard box! Whether it’s cereal, tissues or all the stuff you order online (yes, I know about that), you’re bound to have a couple or more cardboard boxes lying around.

Cardboard boxes are among the handiest thing you can have, and you probably already use them for a variety of purposes. If, in the off chance you do end up with extras and are wondering what to do with them, you’ve come to the right place!

Whatever size of box you have, don’t throw it away – you’re sure to find something awesome to make with it. Check out our list of some cool stuff to make with cardboard boxes, including cereal boxes, shoe boxes and more. I can’t wait for you to check it out!

25 Awesome Things to make with Cardboard Boxes

5 Awesome Things to Make with Tissue Boxes

With so much focus on cleaning and sanitizing these days, you’re sure to have a bunch of tissue boxes on hand! Whether they’re square or rectangular, you can make some cool things out of them!

1. Tissue Box Car Wash

Sitting inside the car as it goes through the car wash is a fun, magical activity for a kid. While this one is not the same, it isn’t any less fun! Watch how Craft, Learn & Play turns empty tissue boxes into an easy car wash that even young kids will enjoy playing with.

2. Tissue Box Dog

Aww, this is such a cute craft! Plaid puts Modge Podge, cardboard tube rolls and an empty tissue box to good use with a cute doggy craft. We love how cute the dog’s face is – and don’t miss out his tail!

3. Tissue Box Guitar

This is a super easy craft to make with a rectangular tissue box and a long cardboard tube, the kind you get with aluminum foil or cling wrap. Get the detailed instructions on making this funky guitar at Wikihow.

4. Recycled Tissue Box Monster

This recycled tissue box monster from Home Talk is a fun open ended craft project. You can add pretty much anything you have lying around the house to this monster, dress him or her up in any craft paper or paint that you have and turn out a one-of-a-kind monster!

5. Tissue Box Farm Animals 

If you’ve got square tissue boxes, these farm animals from It Happens in a Blink are the perfect things to make! If you have 2-3 boxes, you can make a whole set, or else go with it making the animals one by one.

5 Awesome Things to Make with Cereal Boxes

Most families have cereal in their homes, even if they don’t eat it on a daily basis. Cereal boxes are very versatile, especially since the cardboard is easy for kids to cut and handle.

6. Cardboard Bird House

Your cereal box will be unrecognizable when you turn it into a pretty birdhouse! You don’t need much more than the cereal box and some pretty paper to make the bird house. Don’t forget to make an inhabitant with a little foam sheet birdie!

7. Cereal Box Aquarium

If you search online, you’ll find that you can make an aquarium out of pretty much any cardboard box. The Best Ideas for Kids has one of the best ones to be made from cereal boxes. We love that they’ve used so many colors as well as real sea shells!

8. Cereal Box Puppet Theatre

Puppet shows aren’t very popular these days as public entertainment, but Red Ted Art brings this lost art alive with this cute cereal box puppet theater! Look at those quirky characters – you can imagine all kinds of adventures with this lot!

9. Cereal Box Dinosaur

Now this is when you have a few cereal boxes and are ready for a massive craft project! Savvy Mama Lifestyle creates an impressive dinosaur that’ll have dino-lovers falling all over it! It’s surprisingly easy to put together, too!

10. Teddy Express Car

Kix Cereal has the simplest solution for an empty cereal box – turn it into a vehicle for Teddy! A medium size teddy bear will fit comfortably into a regular sized cereal box – don’t forget to decorate it!

5 Awesome Things to Make with Shoe Boxes

You may not be going out much nowadays, which means you may not be buying too many shoes, but you’ll still find a shoe box somewhere if you look! And when you find one, we’ve got the perfect crafts for you!

11. Cardboard Pizza Oven

We love pretend play food crafts, and we enjoy playing chef in our home. Fun Crafts Kids has given us a new idea for our pretend play restaurant – a cool pizza oven made out of a cardboard shoe box!

12. Mini Foosball Table

Football matches my be cancelled and it isn’t possible to have play dates, but you can still play foosball. Don’t have a foosball table? No problem, Handimania shows us how easy it is to make one out of a shoe box!

13. Shoe Box Train Craft

If you’ve managed to find more than one shoe box, Cutesy Crafts has got just the right project for you! Kids’ shoe boxes are perfect to make this train, filled with some adorable passengers! Add a string to the front to make it a pull along toy!

14. 3 D Forest Diorama

This forest diorama is one of my personal favorite projects. We thoroughly enjoyed printing out the animals and putting the whole jungle together! Shoe boxes are perfect for dioramas, and this one is a good example!

15. Shoe Box Doll Room

Want a place for your doll to live but a doll house feels too overwhelming? Make a doll room! Creative Jewish Mom uses a shoe box in different ways to create cute little rooms for small dolls. These will be so much fun to furnish and decorate!

5 Awesome Things to Make with Small Cartons

Once we’re done with regular household boxes, let’s move on to the small cartons – I’m talking about those many, many Amazon boxes you’ve stocked away! Don’t toss them – there are some awesome things you can make with them!

16. Hot Wheels Garage

If you’re sick and tired of die cast cars spread out across your floor, Frugal Fun 4 Boys has the perfect solution – a cardboard box garage! This will both store the cars and also provide some fun play opportunities!

17. DIY Chalkboard Computer

With parents working from home more than ever, little kids will also want to sit tapping away at a computer, just like Mom or Dad. Handmade Charlotte understands this, and shows us the way to turn an empty cardboard box into a cute little laptop – complete with keyboard and screen!

18. Cardboard Box Noah’s Ark

2020 is being really strange ever since it started, and people are joking that they won’t be surprised to see an ark in the middle of everything! While we’ll wait to see if that happens, you can make your own mini ark, like this one from The Craft Train!

19. DIY Cardboard Doll Crib

If you’ve got a large doll and it’s difficult to find furniture for her, you’re in luck – if you have a cardboard box! Little Red Window shows us how to make a very snug and cozy looking crib for your baby doll!

20. DIY Cardboard Play Sewing Machine

Young kids love imitating Mom and Dad, and if you’re an active sewer, your little one has most likely watched you longingly. Now, thanks to Little Red Wind, you can use a cardboard box and make your munchkin a cute little sewing machine!

5 Awesome Things to Make with Big Cartons

Sometimes you get those massive cartons when you buy a fridge or washing machine, or when you move houses. Now these are just golden; you can make some truly amazing creations with these!

21. Pretend Play Grocery

We are absolutely in LOVE with this cool grocery from Ikat Bag! It’s not just a grocery either, it’s also a bakery and cafe. Look at all the gorgeous details in this and you’ll be tempted to get a large box just to create one yourself!

22. DIY Cardboard Dollhouse

If you’re ready to go all out and make a doll house, you have to check out this project from Crafts by Courtney. It’s so simple and elegant, it reminds you of all those gorgeous homes you see on Instagram!

23. Cardboard Play House

Cardboard houses don’t just make great houses for your dolls – they also make great play houses for kids! Look at how we’ve turned a vertical cardboard box into a colorful, circus-themed play house that’s the perfect size for a child.

24. DIY Cardboard Play Kitchen

I can’t get over how cute this kitchen from Hello Island Mama is! Someone please make my kitchen look like this! Check out the full post and you’ll be amazed at the amount of loving detail put into this adorable set.

25. Cardboard Box Ice Cream Cart

This ice cream cart from Damask Love give all other cardboard box crafts a run for their money! Not only is the cart super cute on its own, the tutorial also explains how to make the individual play food on the cart.

After looking at these crafts, I’m pretty sure you’re itching to run and find an empty cardboard box! I don’t blame you, I felt the same way when I saw these. More and more people are ordering things home to avoid stepping out, which means more boxes to craft with! Use up whatever you have lying around the house to add your own personal touch to your project!