would a light tent work as a makeshift softbox?

just for battery flashes. Was thinking of something like the lastolite ezybox hotshoe, but I already have a cheap ebay light tent thing, which has translucent sides.

Would it work as a sort of a small softbox if I lined the sides and back with either dark card or card wrapped with foil? Am I nuts?

I want to try out some portrait stuff but I'd like to play with some of the different effects of diffusing light before I start spending significant money on equipment (ezybox is close to £100)

It'd work to diffuse the light... heck, what have you got to lose by trying?