ISSAQUAH, Wash. -- On this day after Christmas, Aline Bloch read the Three Little Pigs to her daughter. The Big Bad Wolf huffing and puffing and blowing down houses made of sticks and hay.
But he's got nothing on this house.
"The cardboard is strong enough to resist the Wolf?" She asked her daughter, with a giggle.
Forget hay or sticks or even brick. All sorts of things in Aline's house are made from cardboard. Including the chair she and her daughter sat in to read their story. And the table holding the lamp they were using. And the lamp itself. She even makes picture frames, jewelry and jewelry boxes, all from corrugated cardboard.
Aline got the idea when she and her husband moved into their Issaquah home seven years ago.
"We had all these packing boxes and we were using them as temporary night stands or tables, and I just thought that maybe I could make real furniture with cardboard," she said.
The thing about Aline's furniture is that it is sturdy and durable. It's strong enough to support full-size adults. Even with three kids, everything she has made over the past seven years is still standing.
"Cardboard can be strong and flexible at the same time," she said. "The possibilities are limitless."
It may seem a bit foreign to many of us, but "cardboarding," as it's called, is commonplace in Aline's native France. Unlike many recycle bins across our area these days, the one in Aline's garage is quite tidy, even this day after Christmas.
It's proof that, sometimes, the box the gift came in is even better than the gift, itself.
Local filmmaker Ron Dawson put together a short video about Aline's passionate mix of art and engineering.
You can find out more about Aline's cardboard creations at http://alinescardboard.com/
