Not A Box

Sometimes I find the wrapping a present comes in is just as good (if not better) than the gift itself.   Case in point - a friend of mine recently returned from a trip to Indonesia and brought back a gift bag full of goodies: delicious blueberry gum, an "I Love Bali" t-shirt, chocolates, a postcard and a keychain...these were all great, but the best part was the bag it came in.  The bag was made of handmade paper with a pretty blue and green print - I reeeaallly appreciate that kind of thing.    

When I order something online, I always look forward to what kind of packaging the purchase will come in.  Last summer I ordered a bunch of things from Amazon and they shipped it all together in a big cardboard box.  I couldn't let it go to waste so I made another imaginary play station for my kids.  Here they are in their cardboard box Pirate Ship next to their Cardboard Castle (read about that here).

This whole thing took less than 30 minutes to make.  I used a cardboard shipping tube and an old t-shirt for the mast (attached to the box with wire bag ties) and I cut out a wheel that can really turn (with the help of some nuts and screws).  The kids wanted costumes too so I used some winter scarves as bandanas. Then I used a clean pair of black socks and tucked one in my daughters bandana to make an eye patch and the other for my son to have a hook hand.  

Nick Jr. is running these really cool commercials that reminded me of when I made my kids their ship.  The commercials follow the imagination of two children who travel the rough seas in a cardboard ship and explore outer space in a cardboard rocket.  The creativity that went into these clips is amazing!.

If you also have children who'd rather play in a box than with the toy that came in it, then they will appreciate the book, Not A Box by Antoinette Portis.  Pick up a copy at the library or from the book store; it is such a cute book with simple illustrations that allow the children to tell the story.