Sometimes Marotta Wealth Management has given the gift of Gearharts Fine Chocolate to our staff and some clients. David John Marotta, our founder and president, especially loves the Earl Grey Tea flavored chocolate. As a result, we often put our Marotta logo in edible gold on the earl grey flavored chocolate.

The box that the Gearharts chocolates come in is very sturdy, soft to the touch, and a very convenient size. I cannot throw away such a delightful box. Now that I celebrated 15 years of working at Marotta Wealth Management earlier this 2020, I have collected a stash of these little chocolate boxes and thought I’d share some of the ways I have used these boxes to improve my life.

So, here are five ways I’ve reused a Gearharts chocolate box:

I have several of these boxes staged around my house storing various treasures. The box is hard enough to open that an irresponsible one- or two-year-old cannot open it but easy enough a responsible four-year-old can.

In particular, it is the perfect size for extra pens, pencils, highlighters, sharpies, and other office supplies. At 7 inches long, the box is a comfortable but economic fit for the average pen.

It also comfortably fits 4×6 photographs and postcards.

The box is also very thick and absorptive making it useful for items like nail polish or extra toiletries which could leak but probably won’t. With the top and bottom separated, it also can serve as merely a wide-edged tray to display items.

UPS charges their shipping fees based on the size and weight of the box. As a result, the smaller the box you can find, the cheaper the shipping.

At 7 inches by 4 inches by 2 inches, UPS currently charges only $10.95 for the ground shipping of a Gearharts chocolate box that weighs under a pound.

I used my box to request a warranty replacement claim for my paring knife. I was able to use a promo code to make the shipping only $10.10 back to the company.

With one piece of construction paper, you can wrap the lid in a generic color, covering the logo.

To do this, fold the paper in on the long sides, bending it tightly over the edge of the lid, and tape it flush to the interior roof of the lid. Then, cut slits at the edges so the short sides can fold into the lid, bending it tightly and taping to the lid.

Now that the top is covered, the bottom of the box is already logo free, making the Gearharts box quickly into just a generic piece of gift wrap. I like to add a set of baker’s twine (the same twine reused from year to year) and slide a decorated holiday card underneath to complete the wrapping.

At that perfect size for oddly shaped small things, the box can make a useful tool in your holiday wrapping tasks.

Marie Kondo’s clothing organization asks that you store your clothing vertically rather than stacked on top of one another. In order to do that, you need conveniently sized boxes for all your various items of clothing. The challenge comes when you are storing your smaller articles of clothing, such as socks, undergarments, ties, or children’s clothes.

The Gearharts box is the perfect size for storing many of these tiny items. Plus, both the lid and the bottom are approximately the same height and look very nice next to one another. This means that for every box you use in this way, you get two matched containers.

When designing a so-called tablescape, it is often advised that you place your dishes at staggered heights from one another to make them more tempting. However, in order to actually elevate some of your dishes, you normally need footed platters or plate trees specifically for hosting parties.

However, in a pinch these little boxes make wonderful platforms for dishes. Stack a few up to create a dramatic riser for your display. In this photo at right, you can see how I used these boxes in a literary-themed bridal shower to help add drama to my Peter Rabbit display.