Help me use my empty box!

March 20, 2014 3:37 PM

I have a large flat box made of lightweight wood -- maybe pine -- that I have had for years. I would like to do something with it. It is about 18" square and about 1.5" tall, with the lid adding another half inch or so of headroom inside when it's closed. It is plain with a simple gold-tone hook latch. I have considered the idea of drilling holes and using it for a charging station but would like to consider other ideas before I either commit to that or give up and keep carrying it around. Any thoughts? Thanks so much!
posted by michellenoel to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

I house all of my small go-through-life memorabilia in a very similar box. Letters, photos, pressed four-leaf clovers, copies of important documents, my old engagement ring, seashells, etc. It's the thing I'd grab second (after my cat) in a fire. Keeping it confined to a small space means I'm careful about what I put in. It's on "display" on my shelves but just looks like a big old wooden box to most people - but I know it is full of my life treasures.
posted by sockermom at 3:41 PM on March 20, 2014

Tea caddy? If you don't drink tea, you could start! At the very least, by the next time you try to decide what to do with it, it'll smell nice.
posted by XMLicious at 4:17 PM on March 20, 2014

I have a bunch of old boxes like that and they each have their own use. One is for memorabilia of all my dead friends and relatives (such as obituaries, prayer cards). One is for all the movie tickets and tickets to plays for the last oh 15 years or so. One is for photographs that I don't want to throw away but I don't want to put in an album. One is for (believe it or not) all of my sunglasses. One (small one) is for tickets for upcoming events. Another small one is for incense supplies. You can see several of my weird collection of boxes in this photo. Here's another one (this is the one that holds photographs).

When I see a cool old box that I like, I buy it and only later figure out its purpose.
posted by janey47 at 4:28 PM on March 20, 2014 [2 favorites]