15 Crafts Using Empty Cereal Boxes
Updated on August 30, 2016
Sometimes when it comes to crafting, especially if you’re working with your kids, it’s best to use the resources that you already have available. This helps you save money and keeps things fun and easy. Truly thrifty DIY enthusiasts can probably think of a project that they could make out of just about anything in their home, but remember that sometimes the best tools are the simplest ones that you use every day! Have you ever thought of how useful the cardboard box that your morning cereal comes in can be?
Check out these 15 easy cereal box crafts that you and your kids alike will have a lot of fun making!
1. Cereal box flashlight
Do your kids have a fascination with all things electronic right now, but they still need something quite simple so they don’t feel confused? We’d be willing to bet that they’ll love this DIY cereal box flashlight craft by Babble
! The tutorial breaks things down step by step so that older kids can do it themselves or younger kids can help you make them an awesome new light. Take it camping or stick it under your chin to tell ghost stories around the fire pit in the back yard!
2. Fabric covered mail organizer
Just because you’re making a craft out of a cereal box doesn’t mean you have to leave it looking like a box of Froot Loops, especially if it’s something that will become part of your decor scheme! Noodle Head shows you how to avoid weird clashing by covering the cardboard, used here to make an adorable hanging mail organizer, with patterned fabric that matches the paint job.
3. Mini patterned notebooks
Creme de la Craft has the perfect idea for people who are creative in the sense that they’re hands-on crafters, but also in the sense that they enjoy drawing or writing! Instead of buying a brand new notebook for your sketches or stories, make yourself an adorable little book of blank paper from a cardboard cereal box. You’ll feel unlimited when you open it up for the first time and see all those fresh new pages!
4. Even smaller notebooks
Do you love the idea of making a cereal box notebook, but you’d rather keep it in your purse for making to do lists and writing yourself reminders? This miniature version of the idea above might be a little better for you! Check out how it’s made on SC Johnson.
5. Gift tags
Sometimes it’s nice to add a more personal touch to a gift that you’ve taken the time to choose, maybe even make, and also wrap. Slapping a mass produced card on the top of a meticulously handmade present just doesn’t feel good. Instead, label the present and write a little note using a cute gift tag that you made yourself out of cereal box cardboard! See how it’s done on Offbeat and Inspired!
6. Drawer organizers
I Heart Organizing walks you through the process of dividing your messiest junk drawers into organized slices of heaving by creating a network of brightly coloured and pattern storage boxes in different drawer-friendly sized. You’ll never lose your favourite pen or your sticky notes again!
7. Cereal box business cards
Morning Creativity reminds you that being a professional or a business owner doesn’t mean you can’t get a little creative every once in a while! When it comes to designing your own business cards, the options are pretty much unlimited as long as you keep your information visible and well laid out. Making your business cards out of cereal box cardboard might seem like a childish idea at first, but some of the contacts you network with might actually be impressed by how your cards upcycle and reduce waste!
8. Mini pinatas
There are practical ways to upcycle cardboard, and then there are the ways that are just plain fun. If you’re having friends over, throwing a birthday party, or just looking for something fun to do with your kids, try making these hilarious little miniature pinatas! Instead of everyone attacking one pinata at once, each person will get their own one. The best part? They’re made out of the cereal boxes that are already sitting in your kitchen. See how they’re done on Oh Happy Day.
9. Desk top organizers
Sometimes you just need a little extra clutter reduction in order to make some space on that desk or table at home or in the office. If you cut diagonally through the middle of a cereal box, you’ll already have the shape of a magazine organizer or standing file folder, so why get any more complicated than that? Cut several boxes that way and use them to organized your loose paper or notebooks in one corner of your desk. If you’re feeling fancy, follow in Martha Stewart‘s footsteps and cover your new organizers with scrap booking paper or scrap fabric to make them look bright and fun.
10. Embroidery floss spools
Any avid crafter can tell you that string of any kind- ribbon, sewing threads, you name it- will absolutely become tangled and inconvenience you later if it’s not stored properly among your crafting supplies. You want to make sure that things like embroidery floss and so on are wound tightly with their edges contained so they don’t tangle up in other things or become irreplaceably knotted. Luckily, Fave Crafts has one solution and it’s super easy! Check out these flat thread spools made from simple cereal boxes.
11. Sturdy gift bag
Disney Family knows that sometimes you want to give someone a gift that’s in a sturdier bag than usual. Whether it’s something very fine and fragile that you don’t want to crush or whether you have to carry the bag further than usual, simple gift boxes made of cereal box cardboard can be a holiday lifesaver!
12. Link topped gift boxes
Do you like the idea of a sturdier gift bag than usual, but you think the gift you’re giving might need even more protection than that? Maybe you’re just feeling crafty and you’d like to make your own packaging to the size you want, rather than trying to find and buy a gift box. Stuff You Can’t Have has you covered with these adorable cereal box gift boxes that link shut on top to look like a cluster of hearts! Try painting or decoupaging yours so you’re not accidentally advertising Cheerios to everyone you hand a present to.
13. Seed starter boxes
Are your kids learning about minerals and plants in school and talking non-stop about growing their own flowers or vegetables? Well, you can help foster their curiosity and learn about gardening and plat sustainability by building each child a “seed starter box” using- you guessed it- a cereal box! Plant what they want in this first until it’s grown enough to survive outdoors without succumbing to weather conditions. They’ll have fun learning how to transfer their plants later! Check the whole process out on Whimsy Love.
14. Velcro pencil cases
Are you looking for a simple pencil case to keep just a few things in, but you just don’t feel like it’s worth buying one so small at the store? Well, it’s cereal boxes coming to the rescue once more! Check out how Makezine
created this cardboard case with a closing Velcro flap to make sure each of your writing utensils stays safely inside.
15. Mod trivet and coaster set
Do you love the idea of cardboard cereal box crafts, but you’re looking for something a little more artistic and challenging? Well, look no further than this layered geometric negative space coaster tutorial from Makezine! These coasters look modern and clean edged by the time you’re finished, and they actually do their job to protect your table from hot or damp beverages too!
Do you know someone who loves upcycling and working with supplies that are already in their very own home? Share this post with them for a little bit of cereal box inspiration!