I’ve got cardboard boxes coming out of my ears.  Most of the time we throw them into the garage and save for bonfires, since we also have brush and scrap wood come out of our ears.  Let me just say, when we make a bonfire, it is a good bonfire!  The point is, though, that I’ve got cardboard boxes coming out of my ears.  Diaper boxes, Kleenex boxes, boxes from grocery shopping at Aldi.  All of the boxes that all of those groceries are packaged in!  Pizza boxes.  Boxes from Amazon shipments.  I could probably keep naming some, but I don’t want everyone to get bored.

I finally got sick of the giant pile growing in my garage, and I like to consider myself a pretty creative person, so I sat down and thought up some random ways that I could transform all of that bonfire material slash garbage pile into something useful, and also cool.

The Kleenex box towel holder has to be my favorite.  It was also the easiest to make.  Cut a diagonal line from the slit going into each corner.  Put some glue on what have now become the flaps.  Fold the flaps into the box.  Use the twine-looking rope (called “jute”) to wrap around the box, starting at the very bottom.  Line the inside with canvas fabric, making sure to fold it over the edge to make a border on the outside.  Voila!  Fold three hand towels and prop them in the box.  I keep mine on the back of the toilet for the kids to use when washing their face or for when guests come over.

I know I mentioned food packaging when I was talking about all of the cardboard boxes in my garage, but specific to the food packaging are cereal boxes.  There is a new cereal box being added to the pile just about every week.  I took two of them and used them to make magnetic paper bins that I keep on my refrigerator.  Cut the top off, angling down so that the front is lower than the back, and cover the entire thing in pretty paper.  Glue some heavy duty magnetics to all four corners on the back, but make sure they really are heavy duty.  It would defeat the purpose if the bins keep sliding off or falling down.  Now you can keep your mail, homework assignments, shopping lists, coupons, bills…off the desk but still nearby!

Let’s take a minute to consider some things that we can identify just by a snapshot of what they are made out of.  You can easily tell whether you are looking at a zebra, a giraffe, or a flower, just by the designs.  You can easily tell whether you are looking at a bird, a reptile, or a rock just by the texture.  These things and animals are custom designed.  They are who they are.

Now, let’s take this same illustration and use it on the business side of things.  What are some business that you can easily distinguish by their custom design?  Or, as we refer to it, their logo?  The golden arches of McDonalds.  The swoosh of Nike.  The checkered flag for Microsoft.

Okay, so now lets take all of this talk about custom designs and logos and think about what these companies are associated with.  Namely, what is their brand?  McDonalds is clearly fast food.  Nike is activewear.  Microsoft is electronics.  These are clearly their brands.

What about you?

Did you know that customizing your shipping boxes helps identify your company?  People should be able to look at your logo and easily identify that it comes from your company and what you sell.

Customizing your shipping boxes isn’t really as complicated as you might think it is.  Or as expensive.  If you buy wholesale you are one step ahead of the game.  A friend of mine used to just put her company sticker on the outside of all of the boxes she sent out.  It was a cheaper way for her to start out, and it still notified the customer that what they were waiting for had arrived.  At the same time, anyone who just so happened to handle the box in transit had a chance to wonder a company like that had to offer, and they might even check out the website, and maybe even buy something.  There is really nothing to lose.

Some people go all out and order specially made shipping boxes.  These boxes are printed on during the actual manufacturing process.  It’s pretty obvious that you would have to be well-established (and well off!) in order to take it to this level.  Another friend of mine used to sell an oddly shaped piece of equipment that was easily breakable, and so he had a special plastic, protective mold made that fit perfectly into his shipping boxes.