Rewards
Are your empty Darn Good Yarn Yarn of the Month Boxes piling up? Here are some crafty ideas to reuse and upcycle the boxes!
It's an exciting day when your monthly Darn Good Yarn of The Month Club box arrives in the mail! We know that many of you are already subscribed to receive one of our boxes of yarn, a pattern, and a mystery gift in the mail each month! But, after you have opened your box and taken out the contents that came inside of it, what do you do with it? Some of us may simply throw it in a recycling bin while others might throw it away. How many of you reuse your boxes for everyday purposes? Our hope is that many of you do. For those of you who don't, we're hoping to change that with this post. Today, we're bringing you our tips and ideas for using your DGY monthly boxes!
Part of our mission here at Darn Good Yarn is to support eco-friendly practices, such as using recycled and natural yarns, and reusing items that would otherwise end up in landfills. We encourage our customers to do the same! When we send out your monthly subscriptions boxes to you, it is our hope that these boxes will not be thrown away, and that they will be re-purposed for your household needs.
Here are our favorite ways to reuse Darn Good Yarn of The Month boxes!
1. Organize your desk or dresser top.
Are the dresser, vanity, and desk surfaces in your home organized? If your makeup and lotions, or your pens and pads of paper are all over the place, your empty subscription boxes can serve as a terrific solution! Set these boxes on your household surfaces and organize your office or beauty supplies inside of them.
2. Organize your child's toys.
If you have kids, you are probably on the constant lookout for DIY toy storage and organization ideas. What if you had several colorful boxes with lids to store your child's smaller toys in? If you've been a Darn Good Yarn of The Month subscriber for a while, you have what you need! Save your boxes to create a rainbow of organized toys in your child's playroom, the car or diaper bag!
3. Use them to organize your drawers.
While gathering ideas for this post, we asked current Yarn Club subscribers about what they have done with the boxes they've received in the past. We loved the following DIY hack from @dragonfly_creations8374! "I cut the lid off [and] use that for a separator in the box, then use it as a drawer organizer." Such a drawer organizer can be used in your crafting table or at your desk at work! Use it to organize your pens, pencils, paints, knitting needles, and more.
If you have a drawer large enough, go ahead and use your full boxes to section off compartments for different types of office or craft supplies!
4. Use it to store your yarn or patterns.
All knitters and crocheters (myself included) tend to have a significant number of patterns, balls of yarn, and yarn scraps around the house. Some further pieces of excellent feedback from yarn club members that we received for this post came from Alexandra (@happyhousemouse), and Alison and Andrew (@thecraftypenguins).
Keep track of your yarns and patterns by storing them in your monthly boxes! This will keep them easy to find and safe from getting lost.
5. Make your own pom poms.
Did you know that you can make your own pom poms with yarn and cardboard? That means that you can use the cardboard that your monthly boxes are made out of, and the yarn that came inside of them to make pom poms that will look great on your knitting and crochet projects! For instructions, check out one of our favorite tutorials from Sheep & Stitch.
6. Use them to give away gifts in.
Several of our current yarn club members stated that they use their empty boxes to give away gifts in, and we think that's a great idea! Think back to that last time you needed to wrap a gift for Christmas or a birthday and you couldn't find a box that was the right size. Darn Good Yarn Subscription boxes are an ideal size for folded clothing, candles, small books, trinkets, and other awesome gifts!
Place the gifts that you'll be giving away inside of these boxes and wrap or decorate the outside to fit the occasion.
7. Use them to mail items or care packages.
Another very popular answer that we received from our Yarn of The Month customers was that they use their emptied monthly boxes to ship items and care packages through the mail. As advocates of reusing all cardboard, we here at Darn Good Yarn support this practice wholeheartedly! Not to mention, you might get your mail recipients interested in an awesome brand on a mission in the process.
If you have small items to ship to your friends, relatives, or eBay buyers, feel free to use your DGY boxes!
8. Make DIY Wall Art.
Are the walls in your home or office looking a little bare? Give them some life and color with DIY wall art! All you need is cardboard, scissors, glue, and some patterned paper or recycled sari silk fabric!
To use your empty subscription boxes for this craft, unfold and flatten the boxes first. Then, cut out square or rectangle pieces of the box. Using your glue, adhere your pieces of paper or fabric to your cardboard shapes so that the front-facing surface of each shape is covered completely. Let them dry, and you're done! These art pieces are ready to be displayed on your wall! Keep your eyes on the DGY blog for an upcoming full tutorial for this and other Sari Silk Fabric Projects.
If you're a Darn Good Yarn of The Month Subscriber and you've got a great idea for reusing your boxes that wasn't mentioned above, please tell us about it in the comments! We would also love to hear about your experience with trying any of the 8 ideas in this post!
