Box Recycle Revisited

by eDee · April 14, 2013

If you are looking for an Earth Day project here are a few:

First – take any empty box you have lying around the house – box of candy (my personal favorite), box of cereal, crackers, dog biscuits etc…

I chose Starburst for illustrative purposes.

Cut the box open and cut out a section 4 x 6 – in this case the entire face is 4 x 6 (or thereabouts). However, I will be cutting the face and the back off for use because the back has instructions for making your own bunny out of paper.

If you wish to make it a little more presentable you can round the corner either with scissors or a rounded corner punch…

Then you can do multiple things with it. You can flip over the back side and turn it into a postcard (photo below); you can make them into flashcards (with a large house/family we always have enough recycling to make plenty of flashcards); use them as notecards; use them for scrap paper cards, use them as bookmarks etc… The sky is the limit – you can be as creative as you wish to be.

My kids love this next project as we all seem inclined to make lists. We have lists for everything. This craft offers an awesome lesson in recycling to the kids, a notepad that none of their friends would possibly have, a notepad that all their friends want, and one we can make any time we choose.

The items you will need are:

a box (cereal, cookie, cracker, vegetable – anything)
scissors
flexible glue (I used Goop Craft flexible glue)
some binder clips
either another piece of a box for the back cover or just a plain piece of cardboard
index cards or paper (this tutorial uses index cards but paper is much cheaper – it just involves the extra step
of cutting the paper down to the correct size – generally I use looseleaf paper that I purchased at the
beginning of the year for $.19 per package from Staples)

First – decide what size you are going to use – this example is for a 4×6 size and uses index cards. Cut your box face down to a 4×6 size.

Then you stack the back cardboard, index cards, and box face (cover) – in the construction of a notepad. Clip them all solidly, evenly together.

Apply a thick layer of the flexible glue to the top edge. Put on a rubber glove and spread it evenly and rubbing it in as you go. Let dry. The end result is a very solidly constructed notepad. See the variety below.