As parents of a young child, we didn’t have a lot of time to hit the mall this Christmas. Instead of facing the crowds we ordered almost everything with Amazon Prime. Stay home and have our presents come to us? Yes, please! (By the way, I am not affiliated with Amazon at all and am not receiving any payment for this. I’m just a fan.)

One by one our gifts arrived. We felt pretty happy with ourselves.”We’re winning Christmas!” we thought, as we tossed the empty boxes in the back room to deal with after the holidays.

Well, the holidays came and went and our pile of boxes grew and grew. By January our back room was no longer visible under all of the boxes. We could break them down and put them out for recycling, but that’s no fun.

Instead, here’s a list of things I can build with our Amazon boxes from Christmas:

A fort, obviously.

I think this one is a given. What kid hasn’t made an awesome fort at some point in their lives? Only instead of filling it with toys, let’s fill it with booze, cake and Netflicks. Also, let’s put a lock on the door and a comfy bed so I can take a nap in peace. You know, the new mom version of a fort.

Gym equipment

Since everyone is making their new years resolutions, we could use our boxes to build some exercise equipment. We could make a treadmill, some weights and whatever the other exercise equipment is called. The best part is that we won’t lose any money when we eventually abandon this resolution.

A dog bed

My dog loves the couch. She’s not territorial, but she has been known to give guests her saddest puppy face until they move out of her spot. We tried getting her a big, fluffy dog bed but she just ignored it until guests came over and then she humped it. Great.

So, maybe she’ll like her own, custom-built couch out of Amazon boxes? I hope so, because I would really like to lie down on the couch I bought.

An addition to the house

Toronto real estate prices are out of control. So, instead of moving, we’ll just build an addition. No permits needed (probably?) and no searching for a contractor. Think of the time and money we’ll save!

Hmm, actually we have enough boxes to do a summer home in the back yard. Maybe we’ll rent it out? I think we’ll try to sell it as a boutique family hotel. Brilliant! Well, until it rains…

A giant maze

Wouldn’t it be fun to have a maze in your own house? Think of the fun you’d have…wait, crap! I’ve lost my kid. Maybe not.

A shed to hold the other Amazon boxes

I’ll put a door on it and a cute window with a window box. (Made of a box – hilarious!) It’s functional and decorative – what’s not to like? What’s that, you ask? Oh, what will we do when we run out of space in the box shed? Um…. make another shed? We’ll be like those guys on American Pickers, except with nothing of value.

A ball pit

Everyone loves a ball pit. So I think that’s exactly what we should make next. But instead of a pit, it would be an Amazon box and instead of balls it will be full of Amazon boxes. Basically, just a box full of boxes. Oh wait, we have that.

Well, I think we’re out of boxes. What would you make with your left-over holiday boxes?