Everyone that knows me, knows I do not like to buy gift wrap or boxes. If at all possible, I will reuse a gift bag for another occasion. I might even be known to have given someone a Christmas present wrapped in a Baby Shower bag. All in the name of recycling and reducing wastes. Lately, I couldn’t help but notice how many boxes we had starting to pile up in the recycling bin and then the idea came to me: Hand Made Recycled Gift Boxes!
I ran the idea by Papa Bear since , honestly, I wasn’t sure it was even going to work. With a thumbs up from Papa Bear, we were set for our adventure in gift box making. First we had to open all of our granola boxes and flatten them out. This is one of Bone’s favorite jobs to do around the house. But what would we use to paint with?
One night while I was prepping dinner, I noticed the simplistic beauty in the left-over vegetable parts. So I saved the end of celery, the last bits to the Kale, and the tops to the carrots… made an inviting display for the children… and let them take over from there.
The boys experimented with the textures, the shapes, the colors and the designs made with the various vegetables. They explored what happened when they stamped, when they rubbed, and when they spun the vegetables.
The Marvel Superheroes even came to watch and learn.
In the end, Bones swirled his together so much that it gave his box a marbled effect. Legoman then soon followed. It was so interesting to watch the way the two boys approached this task from different angles. Bones completed his ONE box and was all done.
While Legoman continued to paint for about an hour. He ended up painting 5 boxes, and 4 paintings.
One was even titled “Christmas Vortex”- complete with a Christmas tree and good and evil vortexes that were wreaking havoc on Christmas town.
After the boxes were all dry (the next day), we re-folded the boxes back together and I hot glued the bottoms and sides shut.
The boys CAN NOT wait to give people presents in their newly designed gift boxes!
Have you made anything interesting out of boxes headed for the recycling? I would love to hear!
Have you seen our other recycled projects?
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram or subscribe by email in the sidebar. I can’t wait to hear your ideas.
Fun idea, and the boxes look lovely! We haven’t painted with items in quite some time.
What is your favorite item to paint with? Do you have a post you would like me to share?
This is such a creative idea! And a resourceful and wonderful way to keep the kids engaged as well as help them realize the importance of giving rather than always receiving. Furthermore, it helps kids realize that they can create their own beautiful items or keepsakes and not everything has to come from a store.
Thank you so much for all your kind words!Glad you enjoyed it!
What fun to create and give these one-of-a-kind gift boxes. I’m sure the recipients of these will also enjoy the creativity in these boxes. We often recycle boxes and use them in our creations too. Some of the ways we have used boxes include:
Box creations ~ http://blog.creativeplaycentral.com.au/box-creations/
In our play dough creations: http://blog.creativeplaycentral.com.au/play-dough-christmas-wonderland/
Shadow puppet boxes ~ http://blog.creativeplaycentral.com.au/storytelling-with-childrens-art-and-creative-pieces/
Thank you for your kind words. I can’t wait to check out your wonderful creations.
What a fun activity and a great way to repurpose all the packaging that comes our way in December! I love stamping with veggies. Potato stamps are classic, and I’ve noticed that celery ends make beautiful roses. Thank for sharing!
Thanks for reading. It was a very fun activity the boys were ecstatic about the boxes more than the gift going inside.
I also never buy wrapping paper or gift boxes / bags. I mean, what else would I do with all our finished art? I can’t just throw it out *gasp*!
We also craft with old granola boxes – these Dot Paintings and Rain Sticks that come to mind.
http://www.danyabanya.com/2013/08/dot-painting-technique-for-toddlers-and-preschoolers.html
http://www.danyabanya.com/2013/09/DIY-rainsticks-rain-stick-maker.html
xx
Danya
What a great project to do with the kids. It looks like they had a lot of fun! I featured this at this week’s link party! http://www.thelifeofjenniferdawn.com/2013/12/a-little-bird-told-me-link-party-72.html
That is wonderful. I can’t wait to check it out. Thank you for the feature. Is there a button you would like me to add?
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