3 Ways to Use Builder's Paper

For an appetizers-for-dinner meal the whole family can have fun with, give a giant charcuterie spread a try.
Trying out different cheeses and meats is a great way to mix up an ordinary dinner or bring a little happy hour feel to your home. Using builder's paper to create the spread eliminates the need for dishes, making fun and function the name of the game.

Here's how:

• Choose your foods. Think: all kinds of cheeses, pickles, meats, olives, nuts, crackers, spreads and more, with the paper itself becoming the means to label everything.
• Lay out a long piece of food-safe builder’s paper over your table or countertop. Cut to fit.
• Arrange your foods and label everything on the paper with a permanent marker. Have fun with it. Use arrows to distinguish meats, cheeses and crackers.
• Cleanup is easy – just fold it up and throw it away.

A dinner favorite, especially during spring and summer,
corn on the cob is fun to eat, but messy to prepare. That's where builder's paper comes in.

Next time the dinner menu calls for shucking corn, break out the paper. Keep in mind, this would work just as well for peeling potatoes, carrots, cucumbers and eggplants, as well as snapping the ends off green beans.

Here's how:

• Roll out the paper, ensuring you have enough to cover the space where you and any other helper will be standing.
• Lay builder’s paper out on the floor and secure with masking tape.
• Begin shucking corn, allowing paper to catch husks and debris.
• Once you've finished, simply roll up the paper and throw away.

Who says eating in has to be ordinary? Using builder’s paper as a table covering for a family dinner is a totally fuss-free way to bring a little fun to the table.

Here's how:

• Roll the builder's paper out so that it's long enough to leave about an inch on each side of the table.
• Cut to size. If you have small children in the house or a more streamlined look, you can also use tape to secure the paper to the table.
• Next, have fun with it. Since the paper can be easily replaced by another sheet, you can write all kinds of things on it with a permanent marker – like everyone’s name or the menu. Or try tracing plates and utensils for a fun outline of where to put things down in a setting.
• Another idea: Give kids a few markers or crayons and let them create their own mini masterpiece, or play a game like tic-tac-toe.
• When the meal is over, simply clear the table and throw the paper away.