You Can't Recycle Pizza Boxes, So Here Are 18 Ways To Upcycle Them As Decor

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

One of the downsides of ordering pizza is that the large boxes they come in aren't recyclable. The typically reusable cardboard is often refused by recycling plants because of traces of grease and crumbs. If your last takeout orders haven't been too messy, there may be a way to salvage the thin cardboard material at home. Don't toss them in your trash or recycling bin; instead, upcycle them into creative home decor.

Transforming empty pizza boxes into accent pieces in your interior design isn't as crazy as it sounds. The thin cardboard is easy to cut, glue, paint, and restyle into gorgeous DIY projects. It's flexible, lightweight, and free with an order of pizza. Below are 18 decor ideas that use these boxes as their main ingredient. Read on to learn how to complete them, as well as some useful tips and product recommendations that will come in handy along the way.

Even non-artistic individuals can transform empty pizza boxes into chic, modern decor. One traditional square-shaped pizza box provides two pieces of decor if the tops and bottoms are cleanly separated. Use glue to adhere decorative paper to the outside or paint the design on yourself. An even easier option is to pick up White Tile Design Nonslip Vinyl Shelf Liners or Blue Tile Design Nonslip Vinyl Shelf Liners. One roll is plenty to encase the outside of a pizza box, making this an incredibly low-budget decor idea for sprucing up your home.

Create an adorable butterfly storage box for a child's room using cardboard, glitter, paint, and wire. Apple Barrel Acrylic Craft Paint, Hello Hobby Iridescent Glitter Shaker, and Floral Garden Colored Floral Wire are all potential art supplies for this project. They come in various colors and provide a wide range of customization options. Pick your favorite colors or your room's color scheme to make a cute addition for vanities, bedroom side tables, and desks. The finished box and its compartments are perfect for holding crafting supplies, jewelry, small crystals, or other mini collectibles.

Like the pizza pan decor hack that elevates home offices, you can also create a charming welcome sign out of a pizza box. Save all parts of the box to complete this farmhouse-style design, starting by using the bottom half to create strips that emulate wood boards. Assemble tiny accessories using an air-dry clay like ESSENSON Magic Clay to accessorize the sign. If sculpting is outside of your skill set, apply premade embellishments instead. Hot glue lightweight accessories that the cardboard can support, such as Crafters Square Paper Flowers and Crafters Square Iron On Badges Assorted Sets.

With precise cutting, folding, and gluing, YouTuber MissDebbieDIY demonstrates how to assemble a handled desk organizer out of a single pizza box. The easiest approach to this DIY home decor is to cut up all the pieces and wrap them in your desired design before assembling the organizer. Utilize fabric, wrapping paper, or shelf liner like the QC Laurel Blue Adhesive Shelf Liner, to hide the original food container. Look for scrapbooking and sewing embellishments, such as the PH PandaHall Pom Poms Balls Fringe Trim to add more personality.

There are many DIY wreaths you can make out of recycled toilet paper rolls, but there's also an idea made from pizza cardboard. Trace a box cutter around an appetizer plate or another similar-sized object to cut out the wreath-like shape. Once cut, apply dollar store twine, burlap, and artificial foliage as the decorative embellishments. These inorganic objects create a wreath that won't crumble or decay when taken down and packed away till the next season. Hang it on a door or wall, or prop it up on a table among other similar decor. Just keep the back facing a wall, so the unadorned cardboard side isn't visible.

There are several Dollar Tree finds to DIY a decorative mirror, and you don't have to break the budget to add a gorgeous piece to your home. Use a Luminessence Glass Mirror Candleholder to create a smaller mirror, or the Moyishi Chrome Mirror Silver Vinyl Wrap to craft a larger reflection. Use an acrylic spray paint on the cardboard and dress it up to give it a more elegant appeal. JSSHI's Flower Diamond Rhinestone Crystal Mesh Ribbon comes in gold or silver, so you can easily match it to other metallic accents. Avoid hanging this mirror in a bathroom or other humid rooms, as the cardboard base won't hold up well long-term due to moisture.

Keeping physical copies of paperwork, bills, spare paper, and other crafting papers is a smart move, but only if you organize them properly. Make an upcycled file storage shelf for your desk by repurposing a popular takeout container. Each pizza box makes one tier of storage, so you'll want to save up several if you need multiple compartments. Ensure each reused box doesn't have any residual crumbs or grease that could potentially stain or damage paper products. Additionally, be wary not to store anything with sensitive information out in the open. Upcycled pizza boxes are creative, but not secure.

Disguise a takeout pizza container as a lift-top jewelry box with a complete makeover. Line the inside with a cushioned foam like Creatology's Thick Foam Sheet. A single sheet should have enough foam to fill the bottom of a medium or large pizza box.  Surround the top and sides with masking tape to make the cardboard shape more sturdy and durable before wrapping it in the fabric of your choice. Velvet will give it a plush, luxurious look, while an embroidered fabric can appear more ornate or playful, depending on the design.

Embrace your love of social media with an Instagram-style photo frame. Use a Pringles lid as a reference for cutting out the cardboard center, and also upcycle this tool as the plastic frame. Replicate the colors from the Instagram logo with paint, like the Creatology Primary Colors Washable Paint Set, which includes white to lighten the shades as needed. Another option is to buy individual 2-ounce bottles of Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint in Assorted Colors for less than $1 each. Use the finished DIY to display printed photos or frame things that aren't pictures for unique home decor.

Another cardboard DIY that will add style and decor to your home is a "Tree of Life" cutout wall decor. If you have artistic talent, sketch the tree yourself. Otherwise, rely on WSICSE's 16 Piece Tree of Life Stencils, which are the perfect size to trace on pizza boxes. A box cutter or scissors would be too bulky to cut the fine lines for this project. Instead, use a DIYSELF Craft Hobby Exacto Knife. If you want to make a more unique wall hanger, don't completely cut out the stencil. Leave some of the ribbed cardboard texture behind to create a unique backdrop for part of the tree design.

If you're looking for an upcycled shelving idea that will make your home more unique without breaking the bank, try repurposing a large takeout container. Carefully carve the cardboard into a round shape, using the leftover pieces to make the narrow shelving. Wrap the shelf pieces in masking tape and hot-glue them together to improve the overall stability. Hang the finished project from a screw or stick it to a wall using mounting tape, like Tstfadac's Double Sided Foam Tape. When styling the shelf, opt for lightweight and non-fragile knick-knacks. In fact, a perfect addition to this shelf would be the aforementioned Instagram photo frame, which is both small and light.

Fans of quirky decor can craft a one-of-a-kind 3D vase using push pins, string, skewers, artificial flowers, and an empty pizza box. Designing the vase is the most complex part. Follow YouTuber DIY CREATIVE ART's method for stringing between the pushpins, or copy a traditional dream catcher pattern. When picking the flowers for your vase, choose colors that match your interior or take a season-inspired approach. For example, select warm-toned mum, marigold, and dahlia flowers for a fall-themed flower arrangement.

You don't have to leave your home to make this modern art piece. Close up a pizza box and cover it with paint, wrapping paper, or spare fabric. Keep in mind that the shimmering aluminum foil decals will look better against a solid background. Before cutting into the foil, trace the intended shapes on a spare piece of paper or the back of extra wrapping paper. This way, freehanding isn't necessary, and you have custom stencils to work with. This art piece works as standalone decor, and can accent most rooms with silver hardware or fixtures.

Craft a custom organizer to fit all the small bits and baubles that don't have a place in your home. You can also make the storage rings from the cardboard box, but there's a much easier way to source them. Find another empty cylindrical object around your home, such as a toilet paper roll, paper towel roll, or food container. It's easy to cut through old paper rolls, but you'll need a saw to cut through a metal can. If using metal, make sure you wrap each pocket in fabric, as this reduces the risk of cutting your fingers on a jagged piece.

With a coat of paint and beading, no one will ever know your three-piece mandala was made from a pizza box. The trickiest part of this DIY is crafting three perfect circles in decreasing size. The best option is to find a dinnerware set with different plate sizes and cut three cardboard pieces to match those dimensions. Decorate the mandala with paint or lay individual rhinestones, like Crafters Square Assorted Round Colorful Gems, for a 3D look. Don't forget to use beads to separate the mandalas and give them their aesthetic, loose-hanging look.

The holidays are right around the corner, and a pizza box snowman makes for a jolly addition to home interiors. Having more spare boxes on hand means having more cardboard for making a larger snowman. You can create the entire snowman from paper by crafting his face and accessories from colored construction paper, which is buyable in bulk sets like the Pen + Gear Heavyweight Construction Paper. Brighten up the finished snowman with a tiny tealight for his nose or buttons, such as the Luminessence Glittery Round LED Tealight Candles, and add other 3D accessories as desired.

Spooky DIY Halloween decor is just what you need to entice trick-or-treaters, and you can make a graveyard using the husk of your latest pizza deliveries. Double up on cardboard for this DIY, so it's able to withstand a few nights of outdoor exposure. If you want to waterproof your design so it can be packed up for future Halloweens, use a waterproof, exterior-grade paint or polyurethane varnish on top to make it more weather-resistant. On a final note, ensure each tombstone has an attached cardboard base that can be nailed into the ground.

Before attempting this Zen-inspired shelf, a crafter must be capable of cutting concentric cardboard circles. Follow Minal's Art & Craft YouTube tutorial to avoid wasting perfectly good pizza boxes on unguided attempts. Once the circles are cut, create the spokes and backing of this unique shelf using a combination of wood skewers, popsicle sticks, and a natural-colored cord like Trims by the Yard's Emmerson 1/4" Twisted Lip Cord Trim. The finished project is another shelf with a low weight limit. Decorate it with lightweight decor and artificial plants that won't tear the shelf off the wall, or shatter if they hit the ground.