Sometimes, the commonplace and everyday items of your house can seem invisible. You almost forget they’re there because, well, you use and see them daily. And it’s especially normal to forget about these things entirely when you’re thinking of ideas to do for crafts or just on your leisure time. Instead, you usually will go out and buy something new rather than repurposing things you already had.

Well, one commonplace thing you can definitely get mileage out of is cardboard. The thing is, getting crafty with cardboard can seem like a tough task. After all, cardboard is used for things like packaging, shipping, and storage, not fun activities, right?

Well, we’re here to provide you with some alternative uses for the cardboard you’ve likely got lying around your house. Check out these three specific ideas for cardboard you may be able to replicate.

Costumes.

Fairy wings, pirate swords, and robot body parts define some of the most iconic Halloween costumes, and they’re all three usually made up of cardboard in the absence of specifically made, store-bought costumes. Sometimes costumes purchased from the store can be low quality or expensive for something of higher quality, so families resort to constructing their own from time to time. What better material to use for some of these costumes than cardboard boxes?

Nintendo Labo.

This is a relatively new thing this year that uses cardboard boxes and video games. Almost seems like an impossible combination, doesn’t it? Well, Nintendo has managed to perfect the idea. While most of the minigames come with cardboard cutouts that you can piece together to make things such as a piano, camera, or other interesting items, you do have the option to make your own things instead of buying the cardboard from Nintendo. They even provide blueprints for their game’s periphery items in order for you to save money.

Cosplay.

Oftentimes you’ll see movies or TV episodes with kids who play fought with cardboard swords or axes. I’m not sure if I speak for everyone here, but this is something I actually have not seen in person,  even when growing up. But a hobby that does use things like this? Cosplaying. The art of cosplay centers around homemade outfits that mirror those from video game and anime characters. Whether the weapons are constructed of cardboard or it’s the intricate outfit pieces, cardboard is quite malleable and shapeable while still retaining its shape, something that makes it incredibly useful for cosplayers.

With the holidays just around the corner, you’ve likely started to think about what you’ll be getting your loved ones (if you haven’t already started to buy stuff). Sometimes, however, the one thing you got doesn’t seem like it’s enough. Or you’re at a total loss as to what you want to get for your distant family members.

Well, candy boxes are a staple for these situations. There’s not many people out there who won’t eat gifted candies, whether they’re chocolates, truffles, or other unique sweets.

The problem is, though, that sometimes it can seem like a cop out to get someone “just” candies. Whether it’s seen as cheap or uninspired, the thought may cross some recipients’ minds. Luckily, you can alleviate this possibility by throwing in a little bit of work to up the presentation of the gift. At the very least, spicing up the packaging will show that you put forth effort in making it look nice, and your recipient will appreciate the effort.

Here are a few ways to show you tried a bit more than simply purchasing a box of chocolates.

Ribbons and bows.

This is rather minimal in that you’re taking two strands of ribbon to wrap around the box each way to make a crossing pattern, though you can shirk the wrapping paper here. Slapping a nice bow on top of the crossed ribbons is perfect and shows it’s a gift ready to be given. This method is great when the gift is a little extra to the main gift you’re giving.

Traditional.

Wrapping your candy boxes in wrapping paper like any other gift is just as viable, especially if you plan to only give a box of candy and no other gifts to your recipient. At the very least they’ll realize it as a prepared gift and be thankful for the gesture, even if it’s not exactly tailored to them.

Stacking.

Though this is rather uncommon, you can always stack a box of candy on top of another item, whether this is in a bag or you’ve wrapped two items together in a box. Packing multiple things together creates a sense of “value” in one gift, so the candies are an extra special little find within the package.

No matter which method you choose to go with for your gift candies this year, don’t hand a box of candies to your family member with no sense of wrapping or gift presentation.

Christmas makes me think of my mom pulling out the decorations from under the staircase just before Thanksgiving would come around. Her storage typically consisted of big, long cardboard boxes containing her 7-or-so synthetic Christmas trees.

Of course, there were other containers and boxes of ornaments, decorations, and wreaths—but Christmas, to me, felt like a house with long brown boxes strewn about. I even recall it being hard to walk around the house simply because everything was so crowded and out in the walkways. Nothing embodied the Christmas spirit better than getting ready for the season with decorations and the house undergoing a lot of change.

Here are a few tips on getting the most out of the boxes you may have to store away winter holiday decorations.

Ornaments.
While the delicate orb ornaments a lot of people think of when it comes to Christmas are better off left in the boxes they came in (usually partitioned cardboard boxes), your random assortment of baby’s 1st and Hallmark ornaments can be piled into whatever size boxes you have available.

Tip: try layering your ornaments with a piece of fabric/felt. This will make sure they don’t get tangled and don’t chip off just from being picked up and moved around.

Trees.
As already mentioned, almost everyone seems to have a fake tree in a big box, whether it’s the one that the tree came in or otherwise. If you’ve misplaced your original tree box or time has simply gotten to it (or mice), try repurposing leftover boxes from house appliances. They’re usually big enough to do the job.

Lights.
Stringed lights define Christmas time pretty much better than anything. But when it comes to putting them away for the year, they can be a hassle. The first thing you should probably do is wrap them in a coil so that they’re easy to store and easy to untangle for the years to come. Again, boxes do wonders here, allowing you to stack different coils of lights in each without worry of them tangling with one another.

So, if you’ve got a few spare boxes lying around the house, put them to use! Don’t even think about discarding them or burning them—you know there’s always a section of your house or season of the year that could use some organizing. Think seasonally! Any holiday can surely spark your imagination to consider putting things away neatly. What most people regard as fodder for fire or simply trash, you can use for tidiness.

Sometimes we have an excess of commonplace materials lying around the house just begging to be thrown away. Too often we do throw those items away because of the clutter they cause and how useless they’ve become.

However, sometimes it’s better to repurpose some old, mundane items. People create some pretty extraordinary things out of ordinary items, so why couldn’t you, too?

Well, cardboard boxes are one of those everyday materials that we find just sitting in a corner of the house fairly often. Rather than relegate them to the same old storage use as always, why not try getting a little crafty as a bonding experience with your kids? We’ve come up with a few interesting ways to use cardboard for artsy projects. Give them a try!

The classic cardboard house.

This one never gets old. Of course, you’ll need some furniture boxes or home appliance boxes for these to be big enough for your kids to inhabit for the day. But it’ll help create the same experience for your kid that you once felt when you were their age.

Get fun with these! Don’t just draw on windows with marker from the outside. Cut out square holes, create a “door” by reusing the door cutout (and even giving it a “hinge”). Even painting the entire outside could make it seem far more imaginative and fun for your kids. Plain brown cardboard houses are boring. Spice it up with some color.

As a bonus, throw a small rug of some sort inside to make it seem like carpet for your kids.

Diorama.

I remember doing this as a school project in elementary school. And while it seemed specific to school, it was one of the neatest projects I remember doing.

A lot of the time, old shoeboxes work for smaller dioramas. But slightly bigger cardboard boxes could increase the possibilities of such a project. The thing about dioramas, though, is that you have to get creative with other household items. Cotton balls worked well as clouds or fog, sticks from outside made fantastic trees. While going to your local arts and crafts store would likely yield much more useful items, try to get your creative juices going and round up a bevvy of weird, useless things around your house.

Just remember . . .

Be creative! These two ideas aren’t much, but you can do so much with cardboard. While boxes are one commonplace item, you want to extend on that idea and gather as much as you can in other everyday resources to really make the most out of your cheap (or free!) project.