Second Use- Shoeboxes

[Sara Noel]

Let's take some household items and show second uses for them. Ideas on how to reuse or how you resue them in your home.

I love shoeboxes. I use one for incoming mail.

[paelthom]

Great for storing ornaments and decorations so they will not break in a larger storage box. I never toss a shoe box. There is always another use for them. Ryan is using the huge box that Mel's work boots came in to store all her pictures that she cuts out from mags and then pastes on paper (collage). It is actually full and it's a huge box.

[jlxian]

I confess to being a box hoarder. A box always looks like it has so many possibilities to me, and then there are always Christmas gifts to put into them for wrapping.

I have one empty shoebox right now in my box collection and don't have a plan for it yet, but I know something will come to me. Pat, I agree they are great for storing small ornaments in! Sara, that is a good idea for using one for incoming mail.

[Kimberlina]

I use DD's shoe boexs (very small) without the lids (but I do put them on the bottom in case I ever need them) in drawers as organizers.

Bigger boxs usually end up holding like holiday ornaments. I group them and put them together. When you have aminimum of 3 trees to decorate, it helps to know where all your silver beads are, or where all the Victorian shoes are.

[Michele Annette]

I use one large one for photos and another for sewing and craft supplies.

[AmyBoz]

Office supply storage, mailing items, sticker storage for Julia, the list goes on and on and on and on!!!

[KKCondrey]

Joe just bought a pair of shoes and I took his shoebox and one of mine and in his is all of the little pairs of shoes we have been given for Paige and in mine is all of Paiges socks.

[paelthom]

I still have some of Ryan's baby things stored in shoe boxes. There have been times that the boxes ended up being better than some of the shoes. LOL

[Missy]

i like them for "time capsules" I have baby stuff in them and momentos.

[Jerrie K]

I don't use a lot of shoe boxes but I use the bottom part of a cardboard egg carton in one of the desk drawers and it is great for holding paper clips, change, extra dice, little pencil top erasers, etc.

[Mommy2five]

I use them for my hubby's boot polish and brushes

[Englishlady]

I am famous for disguising "obvious" gifts like CD's, by putting them in a bigger box (like a shoe box), it makes it more of a surprise

Also, they are useful to start seedlings in, and just plant the whole shebang out in the garden, because by the time the seedlings are established the box is on the verge of nicely roting down into compost anyway

[ziggee]

If you have a lot of shoe boxes then donate them to the local elementary schools so they can use them for valentines day or other occassions.

Zig

[Frugal Nurse]

Diaramas for school projects.

Small tool storage for DH (like his glue gun, staple gun.

Squares storage for my future quilts.

Fat Quarter storage for my stash. (I really ought to get to that stuff)

[Momto2Boyz]

Okay, the hubby's grandma gave us the reader's digest, Extraordinary uses for ordinary things book, so I looked up shoe boxes in there and here is what it has:

Gift Ribbon Dispenser - use a garden stake or skewer to poke through the sides and put your spools of ribbon on them to keep them from unravelling and tangling.

Play bricks - Tape the lids on and let the kids paint them, then they can use them as building bricks.

Gift boxes - Always great for homemade food gifts, loaves of bread, and baked goodies fit into shoe boxes easily.

This book normally has TONS of ideas, but actually didn't have to many for shoe boxes.