Fun Facts: Interesting Uses for Cardboard Boxes

Shield doors and furniture: Use cardboard shields to protect doors and furniture from stains when you polish doorknobs and furniture pulls. Cut out the appropriate-sized shield and slide it over the items you are going to polish. This works best when you make shields that slip over the neck of knobs or knob-like pulls. But you can also make shields for hinges and U-shaped pulls.

Create gift-wrap suspense: Take a cue from the Russians and their nesting matryoshka dolls. Next time you are giving a small but sure-to-be appreciated gift to a friend, place the gift-wrapped little box inside a series of increasingly bigger gaily wrapped boxes.

Make dustcovers: Keep dust and dirt out of a small appliance, power tool, or keyboard. Cut the flaps off a cardboard box that fits over the item, decorate it or cover it with self-adhesive decorative paper, and use it as a dust cover.

Make place mats: Cut several 12 x 18-inch pieces of cardboard and cover them with colorful adhesive shelf paper or other decoration.

“Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things” from The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.