Frugal Friday: Reusing Diaper Boxes

Probably like most of us, we buy a lot of diapers at our house. I love to buy the large boxes for the convenience, but also for the box the diapers come in. These boxes are the perfect size and strength to be reused for many different things.

1. They are wonderful for out-of-season, waiting for the next child to be that size, clothing storage. They are strong enough and big enough to hold a good amount of child-sized clothing and they stack on top of each other very nicely.

2. They make wonderful toy organizers. We currently have three in rotation: one for toy food, one for little dolls, ponies, etc., and one for Gracie's infant toys. As mentioned above, they stack nicely and are usually durable enough to withstand the abuse they take from constant use by 4 kids.

3. They can be cut open and the flaps cut off to make a nice pantry liner in wire-shelved pantries.

4. They are a great size for holding craft/art supplies.

5. Papers fit perfectly in them and Isabelle has a diaper-box for each school year thus far that holds her best papers, art projects, etc. I also store all the books and workbooks from each school year in a diaper box so that everything is in one easy place when the next child is ready for that material. Depending on the box I either just write directly on the box with a Sharpie, or I tape a piece of paper on it, to tell me the contents.

Here are some other ideas I've had for re-using diaper boxes that I just haven't had the time or space to implement yet:

1. Cut the top flaps off two boxes, saw in half, and tape the four pieces together so that the open sides face out on all four sides and make an old-school style Barbie house.

2. Tape the boxes completely shut, paint, and use as large building blocks.

3. Cut the top flaps off and tape 3 or 4 boxes together, one on top of the other, to use as bookshelves, shoe storage, or any thing else that you can think of.

That's just a few, but I'm always trying to come up with other ways to put these wonderful boxes to use. They're an inevitable part of life around here so why not find frugal ways to repurpose them? Do you reuse your diaper boxes? And if so, what do you use them for? I'd love to know!

For more Frugal Friday tips, head over to Crystal's.