The cardboard boxes They come to our homes can have four destinations. The first is to be recycled in the blue container. The second is to be reused as boxes to store things. The third is to use them to send things. And finally, they can serve as gift boxes.
Let's focus on this last utility, the cardboard boxes reused as gift boxes. Usually when we are going to make a gift we think of wrapping it in some more or less original paper than those that sell on the stationery. But why not make an effort of imagination and reconvert a cardboard box in a part of the gift?
Clearly, not all the boxes we receive are suitable for this use. Those that are spoiled, wetted or sloppy better take them for recycling. To pack gifts we must select boxes that are in good condition and have a size appropriate to what they will contain. Not forgetting that they can be quite greater than what they will contain to create a surprise factor in which they will receive the gift. In this case we'll have to think about the stuffing.
The importance of void fill
In the case that we are dealing with the filling has a double prominence. On the one hand avoid movement within the gift box and also protect it from breakage. On the other hand a filling can be something beautiful that enhances the content.
There are many types of fillers on the market and others that we can create. Consider some examples:
– Balloons. Color balloons that are not very large and act as a shock absorber can be swollen. If we could also fill them with helium, when opening the box they would fly out creating a truly surprising effect.
– Paper chips. In many homes there are paper crushers. We can pick up colored papers and cut them into strips. We can also write messages on paper strips.
– Papers. To make a birthday present we can look for papers from newspapers and magazines with good news that have been appearing in the last year and make them serve as fillers. This involves a lot of work (unfortunately good news does not abound) and, above all, planning the gift from one year to the next.
– Industrial fillers. If we don't want to work too hard, in the market there are all kinds of fillings, from porexpand pieces, to corrugated cardboard, wood chips, bubble plastics or kraft paper.
Decorate the box
The other big challenge is to make our box have a strong personality either through glued papers or paintings. Here it already depends a lot on the characteristic of the gift, on who it is addressed to, and on the imagination and the handy person who is going to make the gift.
Before we get to work we must also think about how we are going to close the box (tape, rope...) and how we are going to integrate the locking system with the decoration we plan to do.
