DIY: Tissue Box Crafts

As an allergy sufferer (who owns two very hairy cats), I go through a grip of tissue. I’ve got tissue boxes in pretty much every room of the house, a square box of Puffs with lotion at my desk at work – I even habitually carry travel tissue in my purse. What all this basically means is, I’ve got plenty of opportunities to upcycle tissue boxes. I’ve used them to hold cat toys, to stash all my plastic bags, and to hold bills and mail, and there are at least a few dozen other ways to reuse a tissue box. Here are some of the craftier options:

That’s right – it’s a tissue box piñata. How rad is that gonna be for next years’ Cinco de Mayo? And since you’re already starting off with a box, the rest is easy enough to whip up. All you need to do is gather a lot of crepe paper, then cut a fringe. Make a hanging loop from ribbon and poke it through a corner of your box, fill with treats then gently glue your fringe crepe paper in colorful layers to your box. If you’re not feeling the basic square shape, break down your box and follow a template for awesome tiny animal piñatas – it’s pretty much the same deal but you’ll start by constructing your animal shape, then fill and cover with fringe.

If you’re a Broke Ass Mom, consider spending an afternoon constructing tissue box monsters. Because, hey, monsters are cool and it’s pretty damn easy to do. Grab some glue, paint, felt, glitter, etc and get creative, just don’t forget the googly eyes. Never forget the googly eyes.

If you’ve got a lot growing, try a tissue box flower box. Again, pretty straightforward here – either spray paint your tissue box (metallics work really well here), or decoupage it with newspaper or colorful magazine paper. Arrange flowers in the hole in the top and you’re done.

You can also upcycle the box itself into a gift box OR gift tags. Or placecards, postcards and notecards. Like cereal boxes, tissue boxes offer up enough raw cardboard for a variety of tasks.

Images courtesy GigglesGalorenMore.blogspot.com, StudioDIY.com, OhHappyDay.com, and OhSuzeQ.tumblr.com