007 the mysterious box – part 2

(Continued from part 1)

What do you do with all those little things in your house that are too good to throw away, but just aren’t worth the effort to sell or give away to a friend?

Lightbulb. Why not give it away to a stranger? And so, with that flash of inspiration the idea of the “Mystery Box” was born!

The idea is pretty simple:

1. Find a medium sized box.
2. Load the box with goodies in need of a new home.
3. Pop it out the front, “et voila!” within a few hours it will be gone. Woohoo!

Here’s a picture of my first one:

Inside was a mix of items, for young & old. Some were brand new, still in their packaging!

I wanted people to take the whole box without peeking inside, so I attached a cover page which said “Take the whole box home or leave it here”. Various people looked but didn’t take it, but after a few hours, some kids took it home with big smiles on their faces.

I thought it would have disappeared sooner. I guess the various adults that stared at the box thought it was a bomb or some kind of trick.

Tips

1. Make sure the box is relatively small and light. About 10-15 items in a box seems about right.
2. Don’t put any food or (ticking items!) in your box.
3. Have some fun with the packaging. I drew question marks all over mine.
4. Only put “appropriate” items in the box. There’s a pretty good chance the box will be taken by a kid or someone with kids.

The other thing we wrote on the box was a suggestion to people that they take what they like from the box, add some things they don’t need anymore, then put their own mystery box back on the street.

So what was in the box? I don’t really remember! And that’s a good sign I’m not going to miss the things I placed inside.

I’m yet to see my original mystery box back on the sidewalk. But my second one is packed and ready to go out this weekend 🙂