Read This Before You Throw Away All Your Holiday Present Boxes (Your Kids Will Thank You!)

Whether you’re supporting a small business that doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar store, or you purchased items during the recent Cyber Monday sales, there’s a good chance that you bought a number of your holiday gifts online this year. And with that comes a surplus of cardboard boxes. If your house, like mine, is inundated with cardboard boxes right now, you need to see this adorable, festive upcycle idea from mom Stephanie (@inaiylasworld) on Instagram.

Breaking down cardboard boxes and bringing them out to recycling is one of those mundane tasks I tend to dread around the holidays. I love how this idea gives those boxes a second life for a little while longer! With just a few pieces (it looks like five, to be exact) of cut cardboard and a little bit of artistic handiwork, Stephanie really brought some major holiday magic to an already-magical (those twinkly lights!) play area.

Stephanie says the following in the post caption: “Our @joykids.original playstand got a full Christmas makeover and I’m obsessed 🍬🎄✨We recycled our @lets_play_lets_grow table packaging and transformed it into this adorable gingerbread house, then added all the magic with paint and acrylic markers.”

If baking isn’t your forte, then this is also a great alternative gingerbread-house-making experience to share with kids. They still get to be creative — just without the sticky royal icing and sprinkles everywhere.

While I really love the play set Stephanie features in her post, it’s not something that I currently own. If you’re in the same boat, you can totally take inspiration from this joyful idea and place your repurposed cardboard in another creative location in your home. I personally will be rigging something up with our trusty Nugget couch and a coffee table (our go-to combo when making play forts).

I will probably use Stephanie’s designs as a reference point as well — those trees, windows, and gumdrop roof tiles are just too darn cute.