This tip comes from my reader Wendy…
I found two wonderful ways to recycle cereal and snack boxes! I pull the seams apart until the boxes lay flat, turn them over so that the solid colored side is facing up, and use them instead of newspaper when my kids paint. I also use the top “lid” of the cereal, fruit rollup, etc boxes for bookmarks…no worries if the get bent or lost….
Do you have a re-purpose for cereal boxes?
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I think I saw this in Family Fun magazine. Remove the top lid of the box, cover the outer parts of the box with wrapping paper. Punch two holes near the top of each side of the box. Thread knotted ribbon through. This supposedly makes a gift “bag” that is much sturdier than regular gift bags. We’ve been saving boxes for a while to try for next Christmas. If treated kindly, they should be reusable.
OK, I just had to come post! I just started using them as replacement reinforcement bottoms in my reusable bags. The plastic ones they come with always end up splitting in half and get thrown out. I just cut down a large cereal box to fit the bottom and fixed!!! Yay me!! lol
I also use them as a quick dust pan too ;)
I use them for shipping ebay auctions. One of our post office workers is not the most friendly person in the world and she accused me of taking a priority envelope and turning it inside out – I was proud to tell her it was a Cheerios box, she was not amused ;)
I’m a preschool teacher and we do two things with them in my class. One, we make them sturdy, wrap them in pretty duct tape and make huge building blocks with them. The other is we have a grocery store and the kids love it! We also have other items besides cereal but we have plenty of those boxes!
If you have a cricut you can use it in place of chipboard. It is the same thickness so not only do you recycle you save money too!
Cut the front into thin long triangles, roll up the triangles from fat end the thin, and glue. They make cute colorful beads.
Kristyn I like your idea. I did the same thing but didn’t spray paint. Also didn’t think to use them with my students. I’m also thinking if you tape them shut they’d make good building blocks for the kids… anyone ever do this?
I have covered them with contact paper to make them sturdier and cut it like a magazine holder for that purpose. My kids have also used cereal boxes to build homemade doll house furniture and pet cages. We also use quite a few boxes in our play kitchen for pretend food.
In addition to magazines, I use them to organize supplies like legalpads, spiral notebooks, packets of notebook/graph paper, etc that isn’t archival quality. Also use with sheets of sandpaper.
My daughter’s school cut the fronts into a 12-piece grid and turns them into puzzles. I was surprised at how hard that Multi-Grain Cheerios box was to get right.
Whenever I have to paint on a t-shirt, I cut out one side (front or back) of the cereal box and put it inside of the shirt. That way, whatever I’m painting on the front won’t leak through to the back and it’s just the right size.
I also cut them to size around my stove top when I’m frying something so it won’t dirty my stovetop (just keep a REALLY good eye on it), then toss them when I’m done cooking…or save them for the next day if I’m going to be cooking something messy again!
I’ve just re-purposed cereal boxes for book bins for my students at school. They put books that are on their reading level in their book bins. They love it! I cut them like magazine holders and spray painted. I’m going to let them decorate with stickers as I catch them reading quietly to self or for earning AR points!
I have always repurposed cereal and all cardboard food boxes into shipping and wrapping boxes. Just open one end and down the seam on the side. Form box back by allowing the blank inside show on the outside and the advertising is now on the inside. Secure seams with tape. Every ebay sale and bow made it safely as well as every gift! I wrap the gift boxes with newspaper from that person’ bday, cartoons, or crosswords.
Thanks from a fellow ebay seller———————–
i cut my fabric sheets in half so they last longer i got that tip from someone but cant remember who it makes it just as fresh. i only use a capful of det to wash my clothes it gets them just as clean,
I have gotten crafty with my boxes and cut several of them to fit the drawers in my bathroom to store my makeup in. :)
store scrapbook paper and magazines…separate the kid school papers and such…just cut like you see store bought office organizers…you can wrap in old wrapping paper or collage…they also make a mean robot,,,I also have cut them to size to use to organize photos in the photoboxes…just cut a little higher than the pictures and label…also fold and use as covers for play sketchbooks using recycled office paper…