Happy Friday: Free Boxes Provide Frugal Fun

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Sent from reader, Jessica:

Attached are some pictures of a little craft project my 3 year old and I did, all for free. 

I’m sure everyone gets those nice large boxes from Costco to carry groceries in. A few weeks ago we kept one to play with. We covered it with red construction paper, made wheels, eyes and a mouth all out of paper we had lying around. My son was convinced it was Lightning McQueen from Cars and the whole time we were making it he exclaimed, “It’s perfect! Good job!”. He had a ball for days getting rides in it from Daddy, revving engines and all. He’s already made plans for what new car we will make the next time we go to Costco and get another box. Thought it would be a nice activity people can do at home, without spending any money!

HAPPY FRIDAY! 😀


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** Check out all of the previous Happy Friday pictures here.

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Comments 31

  1. Caro

    How cute! Almost makes me wish I had a kid. They can be fun, sometimes.

    • Sonya

      Sometimes, hehe, I agree;)

  2. Carol

    Fun! Thanks for the idea!

  3. Pandora

    OMG they are so cute!

  4. Barb

    adorable.

  5. Amanda D

    That is too cute!

  6. Ger

    Too cute!!! Made me smile, thanks!

  7. maflies1

    Way to go! Original, unique,(now called “green”) ideas are such an inspiration for the young ones to teach them to use what’s available-rather than spending high dollar. Good Momma 🙂 & sweet kiddos!!

  8. Carmen

    Your kids are so cute! Looks like fun!

  9. Lisa

    We did this for our Halloween costumes this year, my son is a Mater fan, so he was Mater, mom was Holly, Grandma was Sally and Dad was Frank the Combine. We went to the mall for trick-or-treating and the employees at the Disney store were very impressed.

  10. Jamie

    What a cute idea! You could have a few friends over and have them go to a “dive in movie” one car for each friend 🙂

    • Candy

      That’s a super cute idea! We purchase the cars trilogy. Last year my son loved the original cars. Now he’s all about mater’s tall tales. This would be tons of fun!

  11. Holly

    I’ve been looking for a spot to leave this comment and this one looked good! I’d just like to say that I am fairly new to couponing I learned from my sister in law. I have 2 kids in diapers a full time job and the husband that always seems to have a long day lol but back to the point I am a follower of this website daily I’ve looked at other websites and the fellow couponers bash each other instead of praising them for there findings! I love this site and all the wonderful deals I’ve been able to find to support my family!!! Thanks again!

  12. Zee

    Great idea! And what adorable kids! 🙂

    • Tawanda!

      Zee,
      You took the words out of my mouth (or my fingers since I’m typing a reply!).

  13. Rebecca S

    We did this one year for my sons birthday party – used old paper boxes and made all the cars (we did the original movie) – we cut out the bottom and had handles in them so the kids could run around and race in them. We had a friend who worked as a plumber and gave us a lot of old water heater boxes that we painted to look like Radiator Springs – Luigi’s Tires, Flo’s V8 café, Mater’s Curios Shop. We used a rope and a hose attachment sprayer for a gas pump on the side of one of the boxes so the kids could fill up. We knew someone who owned a tire shop so we had used tires to set by the tire shop for the leaning tower of tires, but we also used them for some games – bean bag toss and a tire rolling contest. We made racing flags and had the kids race in their boxes around the “track”. So much fun and the kids LOVED it -and it was all free!

    • Rebecca S

      Also used the box/car idea for a “drive-up” movie in the back yard – set up a projector and scree to watch a movie with friends, gave the kids “tickets” and had a concession stand with popcorn, drinks and movie candy – fun and very inexpensive

  14. Alexi

    I love it! Thumbs Up! My little ones love boxes WITHOUT them being all super cool and Lightening McQueen looking… I can just picture them flipping out with a project like yours. Thanks for the great idea 🙂

    • Jennifer

      Hahah mine too! I just tape together a bunch of large boxes that I receive from stuff I order online with packing tape (Duck tape got for free a few months ago with coupon at Walmart) and call it a train for the kids. They fight about which car they’re gonna ride in!

  15. Heather C.

    Love this idea! Then when the kiddos get tired of playing with it, you can get rid of it and not feel guilty… because it was FREE! And seriously, one of my favorite memories from when I was a kid was making a cardboard box “house”. When I was 3 (I’m 30 now, so it had to have been a pretty big deal for me to still be able to remember this!) my Dad used the box our refrigerator came in and flippped it upside down for the house. Then he cut out a door that opened and closed, a mailbox, and windows that opened and closed. Then I used crayons and markers and decorated it. I enjoyed that so much… What a great way to spend quality time with your kids, and it doesn’t cost anything! 🙂

    • irene

      What a nice memory!

  16. Salesnob

    How cute are they! What a fun idea! I need to keep a running file for when my Little One is old enough so I remember all of these great ideas!

    • Erin

      You’ll remember–kids universally love boxes! More than the stuff that comes in them most of the time.

  17. Sarah H.

    Adorable! It reminds me of my son’s 3rd birthday (he is now a college sophomore — sniff) when we made “Thomas the Tank Engine” trains for the kids and had a big race with them…. I think the adults pushing had as much fun as the kids. Thanks for the memory!

  18. Jennifer

    Anyone else thinking, now it could only be better if it was a refrigerator box? I remember having one of those once, and it’s true, the bigger the box, the better the fun lol! Super cute idea. We usually just make any amazon box into a fort or a cave lol

  19. nicole

    This so so cute.My daughters n ow 14&9 used to love to play in boxes.Now i have a 2 year old son he would love this.Thanks for sharing.

  20. Kate

    OMG this brings back memories! My oldest is now 11 and we did this with him when he was 2.5…..just before his twin brothers arrived! Instead of a ‘Cars’ theme, we made a space ship. He drew in the dashboard and dials and stuff inside it, too. He loved that thing!! We must have kept it for months (pre- & post- brothers birth) I couldn’t push him around nearly as much as his Dad could (I was 7 months pregnant with said twins) but I could sit next to him & shake it to simulate ‘take-off’ and flying. The twins came 6 weeks early & the spaceship even came to the hospital with him to visit his new brothers. Oh the memories!!!! The nurses just loved the spaceship!!
    Take LOTS of pictures and cherish this sweet time because it goes by WAY too fast!!!

    • Deana

      great comment! We did it too! My son is in college now but I remember when he’d get his pillow, blanket, and fav toys and stay in that darn box all day long. got a recording of me calling from the other room “Honey, whatcha doing?” “Im in THE BOX Mom!” love it! I guess I need to keep a look out for another box for him for when he finishes school this year because he is not going to move back in! lol….hey, great grad gift idea! lol

  21. Ambo

    My daughter uses our Costco box for a stage to sing on top of and a ramp for her toy car in addition to uses it as a mode of transportation:)s

  22. Sunnie

    Yeah mom!. As a grandma it makes me so happy to see people doing this kind of project with their kids rather than buying something.

  23. Laura

    That is adorable, Jessica! We don’t shop at Costco but whatever boxes come in the mail/delivery always get used and abused by my kiddos for at least a day. I don’t mind because they LOVE it and it’s free fun!

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