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How can I Reuse Shoe Boxes?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Shoe boxes tend to be sturdy and compact, and are often an ideal size for creative reuse ideas. They can be handy for storage, mailing, organizing, and crafts projects. For people concerned about the outward appearance of shoe boxes, they can be quickly covered in paper to make them look more uniform, or dismantled and turned inside out to expose the plain interior.

One way to use shoe boxes is for their original purpose: Storing shoes. Women's shoes in particular tend to become scuffed and damaged in routine storage. Shoe bags can provide a compact method for storing shoes but they also tend to become disorganized. Boxes allow for storage of shoes in their original containers to prevent damage while making it easy to identify the right pair of shoes at a glance.

Shoe boxes can be used to dispense embroidery floss and other craft supplies.
Shoe boxes can be used to dispense embroidery floss and other craft supplies.

Shoe boxes are also useful for storing craft supplies, toys, and other small objects that tend to spread out and make a mess. In crafts, they can make excellent dispensers for ribbons, yarn, embroidery floss, and similar supplies. They are also useful for storage within larger drawers and boxes; a set of boxes in a dresser drawer, for example, can separate out underwear and socks and prevent messes.

Shoe boxes may be used to store CDs.
Shoe boxes may be used to store CDs.

In addition, shoe boxes can be powerful organizing tools. They may be handy for receipt storage, allowing for the storage of different kinds of receipts in their own boxes to make taxes easier at the end of the year. For households using envelope budgeting, a shoe box can hold the budget envelopes in a central location for convenience. The size is also suitable for photographs, compact discs, letters, digital video discs, and other media that tend to become disorganized if left loose.

Shoe boxes may be reused to ship different items.
Shoe boxes may be reused to ship different items.

Shoe boxes are a good size for dioramas and similar crafts projects. They make extremely useful mailing containers for care packages. The sturdy construction eliminates the need for extra reinforcement, and the size is suitable for mailing a variety of objects. Another use for a shoe box can be a prayer or goal box, where people write down ideas, worries, or goals and stick them into the box to hold them for future reflection.

Gardeners may find shoe boxes ideal for storing packages of seeds as well as botanical specimens and gardening notes. Cooks can use them for recipe organizing, as the size permits storage of large recipe cards with room for notes as cooks experiment with cooking projects. They can also make useful medication and medical supply organizers.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a HomeQuestionsAnswered researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a HomeQuestionsAnswered researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

Grivusangel

Shoe boxes are also great for oddly shaped gifts that are not easily wrapped, as well as for photos that need to be placed in albums or scrapbooks.

One non-profit organization, Samaritan's Purse, collects shoe boxes filled with small gifts to give to needy children all over the world. The event, Operation Christmas Child, is popular in many countries, and children love to fill a shoe box to send to another child who may not get gifts very often, if at all. It's a good way to use your old shoe boxes. You're helping someone else, and that person may be able to use your shoe box for something they need.

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    • Shoe boxes can be used to dispense embroidery floss and other craft supplies.
      By: Andreja Donko
      Shoe boxes can be used to dispense embroidery floss and other craft supplies.
    • Shoe boxes may be used to store CDs.
      By: robtek
      Shoe boxes may be used to store CDs.
    • Shoe boxes may be reused to ship different items.
      By: Andres Rodriguez
      Shoe boxes may be reused to ship different items.