People flip houses all the time. Why not flip a cardboard box? Check out these eight incredibly creative ideas that transform potential trash into treasure. Warning: You may start pulling cardboard boxes out of the dumpster after reading this.

Fun things to make with cardboard

1. Mailbox: Create a mailbox with your kids and get ready for the sweetest letters and drawings to pour in. Check out Ikat Bag for more photos and tons of other ideas with cardboard boxes…

2. Dollhouse: Made by Joel is chock-full of good ideas for parents and kids, including this portable dollhouse that has a clean modern twist.

3. Puppet Theatre: I love this little puppet theatre by Cakies— and the fabric curtain seals the deal.

4. Festive Fort: Your kids will most likely be entertained the entire day in this awesome cardboard fort decked out with Christmas lights. You can thank Cheri over at I am Momma- Hear Me Roar for sharing this magical idea.

5. Cardboard Playground: Think outside the box like this family did for their son’s first birthday party. (I have a feeling the parents had a lot of fun making these). On to Baby has a bunch of great pictures on constructing airplanes, trains and rocket ships out of boxes.

6. Cardboard fractions: Make fractions fun with this creative DIY pie chart from Ikat Bag. Most kids learn much better with hands on objects and this pie chart is right on target!

7. Traveling Art Studio: Convert a cardboard box into a portable easel for your budding artist, thanks to Maya*Made.

8. Cardboard Arcade: Create an entire arcade, complete with tickets and prizes. Caine’s Arcade began with a pile of used boxes from his dad’s auto shop and transformed into an entire arcade over the course of one summer. There is a great short video you can watch and get all teary-eyed over.