Santa is coming! Santa is coming! The aftermath of Santa leaves boxes and paper that fill your recycle bin and garbage through Valentine’s Day. Why not build a play structure out of the bits instead?

My husband and I built snowmen we found on Pinterest for our kids this Christmas. We found a large, medium, and small box for each child, filled the boxes with their Christmas presents, and then wrapped them in freezer paper we had from last year's Christmas gifts. As a final touch, I crocheted a Cars scarf for my son, and am finishing up an Adventure Time Jake Scarf for my daughter. But after the kids dismantle their snowmen on Christmas morning, what are we going to do with the boxes?

Yes, boxes are one of the best toys ever, but they take up a large amount of space when nobody is playing with them. Why not cut a cardboard box into pieces and make slits so the pieces fit together but can store flat? This is just one idea from Inner Child Fun – they have many more.

Cereal boxes make an interesting alternative gift wrapping (and work in the snowman, too). You can go pretty crazy with decorating a cereal box, but I just tucked the top flaps into the box, taped them down, and attached vintage ribbon (from my mom's stash) with brads.

What about that wrapping paper? If you are like me, you don’t use conventional wrapping paper anyway; I tend to use shopping bags, maps, and Sunday Comics and newspaper. Did you know you can use rolled newspaper to make poles for a kids fort? You can! Modern Parents Messy Kids shows us how.

Marble runs, Tinker Toys, and building blocks are popular gifts at Christmas. There are some very unique ideas out there (what would we do without the internet and Pinterest?) for making your own versions of classic toys.

Building Blocks: Paint your own puzzle on craft blocks. The best part of this project is that you can make six different puzzles with one set of blocks. If you use chalkboard paint on a set of blocks, a set of colorful chalk would let a child make whatever kind of scene they want in their imaginative play. Olli Blocks are a downloadable series of boys, girls, and animal people. Each set can be printed, cut and Mod Podged onto a set of 1.5 or 2 inch craft blocks to make mix-and-match characters. It is $5 for one set or $12 for all three.

Tinker Toys: There are small-scale and large-scale DIY versions of this classic. You can ball up salt dough putting various toothpick-shaped holes in the balls and use these for making small sculptures, or toilet paper/paper towel tubes and pencilsto make a slightly bigger creation.

Marble Runs: Marble runs are so expensive to buy! There are items you can buy at the dollar store that work just as well. One Pinterest find shows using a pool noodle cut in half lengthwise to race marbles (the noodle would need to have a hole running down the middle of it). If the only space in your house to have a marble run is your refrigerator, saved toilet paper rolls can be cut, duct-taped, and attached a with magnet to roll down the fridge.

If the kids get too many noisy battery operated toys for Christmas, consider another idea from Inner Child Fun and cut up sponges into block shapes for quiet time building fun...or a nifty bath toy.

What do you do to unwind from the holiday? Do you have any fun activities you do with your boxes and wrapping paper?