Selfsufficientish.com

They are taking over my house as well meaning neighbours save them knowing that I have hens,done the using the for seed trays and making fielighters but Im at a loss now!

1. Send them to me (never have enough as people don't give them back to me!).

Er, care to explain the firelighters bit, or are you just using them as kindling?

2. Compost them! They go in no time at all if you put them in dry with grass clippings.

3. Allow kids to hack them up and paint them. The little pockets in egg boxes make excellent eyes for a dragon or anything else your imagination can think of.

4. Ladybird hotel. Can't verify this... http://www.gardenstew.com/blog/e15-60-a ... boxes.html

5. Pulp for papier mache.

6. Store fragile Christmas tree decorations in empty egg cartons; one glass ball per segment.

7. Coin toss game for kids. Number each section of an egg box and then use it as a game for the children. Place the box at a suitable distance and give them each a few coins to throw into it. The child with the highest score is the winner.

8. Carefully blow several chicken or duck eggs (make a hole in each end with a pin, one slightly larger than the other, and blow hard to push out the liquid egg), then get the children to paint or draw Easter designs on them. Present to delighted grandparents in egg box. Ditto candles made in egg mould.

9. Egg box centipede. Cut 2 or 3 boxes into individual segments and then string them together with thread. Glue on legs and antennae made from pipe cleaners or straws and then paint the resulting centipede in bright primary colors.

freecycle them - I bet they don't hang around for long

Acoustic insultation - if you have a blank hard (eg brick) wall that reflects sound (ie generates an echo - which is irritating inside!) the wall can be lined with egg cartons to break up/absorb the sound. Also useful if you have one of those discomforts that sometimes accompany middle age...........teenage children in a band!

Nev

Yes! The first house I rented in France had this interesting deco on the ceiling in the basement - they said it was for when the kids were young playing their music loud. Well it was different to say the least!

12. Use them for chitting your spuds (that's why I want more!)

If running a table at market, use one to keep all your small change separate.

How to make firelighters: melt leftover candlewax and add enough woodshavings to make a dough-like consistancy (what I mean is so that it comes away from the sides of the pan) pack this mixture into the segments of the egg boxes and allow to cool and harden. When you need to light the fire just tear off a segment and set alight to the torn edge,suprisingly efficient! Trouble is Im now collecting all spae candlewax for making new candles! As for allowing the kids to paint them,we now hae a very fetching purple crocodile and purple splashes on the walls,chairs,floor.............

wow - thanks for that! We have shavings anyway to put in the chook nestboxes. Don't need them for the wood burner as it practically sucks the match out of your fingers and then - whoosh - up it goes, but on the rare occasion we BBQ or bonfire those could come in really handy. I have no idea what the commercial stuff is but it smells icky.

I don't save stubs for making new candles any more. There's only so many murky purple candles you can look at in one lifetime

Glad to be of service! (Bows and tips hat!)

Wombat wrote:Acoustic insultation - if you have a blank hard (eg brick) wall that reflects sound (ie generates an echo - which is irritating inside!) the wall can be lined with egg cartons to break up/absorb the sound. Also useful if you have one of those discomforts that sometimes accompany middle age...........teenage children in a band!

Nev

How very 70s - I knew a lot of teenager's rooms like that! It was quite standard in my day and age. I was wondering how good this insulation would be for retaining heat?

I dunno Ina, but if you set it up so there were still air spaces it would work better than no insulation & its cheap!

Nev

The thing is - it works better with the egg trays (for 30 eggs) rather than with the 6-packs. I did get quite a few of these trays when I had the paint sent, in a big box; they used it to stop the tins moving about in the box.

Hey, that's another use!

The 12-egg ones could make a nifty Mancala board!

Mancala is an African strategy game that involves moving beads / stones around 12 pits (6 for each player) and attempting to capture your opponent's stones. The person with the most stones when the game ends wins. Simple rules, mind-bending strategy.

Kfish.

The 6 or 12 section boxes are good for putting powder paints in for the kids projects.We had them at school.
Good for seperating up different colours of beads ,seeds etc for craft work.