12 Incredible DIY Cardboard Box Projects

Pretty much every kid loves playing with cardboard boxes — and even some adults too! But rather than pretend these cartons are a car or house, why not turn them into these items? From pirate ships and airplanes to lemonade stands and play cities, the following projects can be created using a few key tools — the main one being imagination! Source: Shutterstock

Pirate Ship

Pirate Ship

The awesomely creative mom behind Kate's Creative Space made this incredible pirate ship using a square cardboard box as the base. She then "stapled long pieces of cardboard on either side to form a boat shape . . . and covered those in leftover wood-effect wallpaper for a nautical touch." We only have one word: wow! Source: Kate's Creative Space

Box House

Box House

Nessadee Art + Life created this incredible box house using a ton of boxes in different shapes and sizes, a hot glue gun, packing tape, scissors, and markers. Feel free to let your kids add as many embellishments (string, felt, moss, and more) as they'd like. Source: Nessadee Art + Life

Box Cars

Box Cars

Not Just a Housewife made these box cars for a "drive-in movie" night, but we're betting your kids will find lots of other uses for them, too! Source: Not Just a Housewife

DIY Playhouses

DIY Playhouses

Elsie of A Beautiful Mess created these DIY playhouses for her daughter's second birthday party using large cardboard boxes, a box knife, wallpaper, wrapping paper, paint, masking tape, hot glue, and double-sided tape. So cute! Source: A Beautiful Mess

Cardboard Doll Bed

Cardboard Doll Bed

Ambrosia Creative's cardboard doll bed is a DIY project that any little girl would love! The coolest part: all the pieces interlock without tape or glue. Source: Ambrosia Creative

Airplane

Airplane

Small Fry has step-by-step instructions on how to make your own cardboard airplane. Source: Small Fry

Box Town

Box Town

Perfect for not-yet-walking babies, The Imagination Tree's cardboard box town is simple enough to re-create. Draw a city scene, including roads, parks, train tracks, and more, on the bottom of a huge cardboard box, add some wooden building blocks, and voilà, you have a build-your-own city! Source: The Imagination Tree

Lemonade Stand

Lemonade Stand

You only need one side of a cardboard box, along with some markers and tape, to create your very own lemonade stand sign like this one from See Jane Blog. Source: See Jane Blog

Picture Frames

Picture Frames

We love The 36th Avenue's DIY frames. Let your little one trace and paint, but make sure you take over when it comes to cutting them out of the box. Source: The 36th Avenue

Guitar

Guitar

They may not be big enough to slap the bass, but little ones will have no trouble strumming along on Ikat Bag's cardboard guitar. Source: Ikat Bag

Storage Boxes

Storage Boxes

Whether you have a refrigerator box or a cereal box, you can easily create Catch My Party's unique storage units. In fact, the more sizes you have, the better! Source: Catch My Party

The Wild West

The Wild West

Let Hostess With the Mostess show you how to turn dozens of boxes into a Wild West setting for your little cowboy or cowgirl. Source: Hostess With the Mostess