This cardboard container uses a cardboard box as a base with fun colors of outdoor paint and handprints.
In our recent article about cardboard gardening, we encourage you to use cardboard throughout your garden. One of our favorite ways to do this is with containers! Here’s one way to transform an ordinary cardboard box into a gorgeous container. It’s perfect for kids!
Handprint Container
Materials
- Outdoor paint
- Cardboard box
How-to
- Find a cardboard box and push the top flaps down into the box for extra reinforcement. Add a few drainage holes in the bottom.
- Paint the box with an outdoor paint (Patio Paint is a good brand) and let dry completely.
- Paint hands with another color of outdoor paint, and press firmly on the box. Repeat as much as you want!
Remember this is cardboard—don’t expect it to last more than a season or two at the most. But we think it’s a fun, quick and cheap way to create a container without spending a lot of money! Do you have a clever idea for using cardboard in the garden? We want to hear it! Send us your idea and photo using our Submit Your Story form. If we use it in the magazine, we’ll send you $50!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello, I wasn’t sure where to write you and wanted to make sure someone read this. I noticed in the most recent issue of birds and blooms, in the back pages you show a suet feeder with very colorful yarn for nesting. While it is a “cute” idea, in my Master Naturalist program colorful things for nesting are discouraged as it attracts predators to the nests. I wanted to share this with you, as it is a growing concern, fancy colorful bird houses, feeders, nesting materials etc, as we know birds see color well and there are plenty of predator birds. Just a thought.. thanks for listening.. robin
Robin, we haven’t heard the same concerns. But we thank you for sharing that for us. Perhaps sticking to neutral, earth tone colors would be a safe way to handle it all around. Thanks again!
This is an odd coincidence…can birds see color? I left yarn out for them last year; brown, green and red. They took most of the brown and green and left the red.
I would make a plastic liner with a grocery bag(s). Of course you would want holes in the bottom.