Repurposing Ideas

[jdp]

I'm beginning to get things together for a move in the next couple of months. As I was paying more attention to things around the house (i.e. looking at what I could get rid of vs. move lol) I noticed how much we repurpose things.

I think it started small - jelly jars for glasses near the bathroom sink for rinsing after brushing, a holey sock for keeping plastic bags in to reuse, drive through plastic junk cups for rinsing in the bath, things like that. But last night I realized just how much we repurpose. Many of the things started out with "well, until I can get ______, I'll use this" and "this" worked so well I never did get the other thing.

I think my favorite is cardboard canisters - from oatmeal, snacks, and such turned into helpful things like crayon tubs, a place for my son's rock collection. Instead of buying an organizer to hang on the back of my carseat I used pants pockets (from the back of worn out pants and I'm no seamstress and I love a glue gun).

I didn't know if it would be helpful to set up a thread to exchange ideas for repurposing things (thought of because of the victory garden thread mentioning using milk jug bottoms to plant in - we use milk jugs for so many things!).

[kav122]

Great thread! I can't wait to hear all of the great ideas!!!

We repurpose:

milk jugs-as previously stated
socks-also as you do as rugs for cleaning
toothbrushes-more cleaning equipment
newspaper-packing material, wrapping paper, drop cloths for messy projects, to wipe windows when cleaning, kindling for camping (soak them in water then roll them up tight then tie them with a string and let them dry)
packaging from yogurt, sour cream etc-tupperware
jelly jars, pickle jars-to hold any and everything
buttons off the worst of the worst clothes-take the buttons off for future projects and then cut the clothes into scrap for rugs
old set of measuring cups I found in the trash pile at a yard sale-I use the 1 cup in my homemade laundry detergent, the rest as various scoops
fabric scraps-anything really: potholders, curtains, pillows, etc.
mustard or other (squeeze it) container-bath toy for son
wire strainer-flour sifter...just tap it
rain water-for watering plants (rain barrel)
seeds-for new plants
wagon (another yardsale find)-used as a wheelbarrel (we don't have that much to transport)
egg cartons-holds jewelry and start seedlings in
kitchen waste and yard waste-most of it goes into the compost

alot of these have already been covered. More than anything we try to not buy new stuff!

[jdp]

Pringles cans (I'm sure we don't eat this many pringles, where do they keep coming from lol):

*1st ever idea - put dried macaroni, beans, rice in diff ones and tape shut, decorate the outside = homemade moraca (sp?)
From there exploded into:
*paintbrush holder
*filled with sand = door stop for in the basement
*a place to accumulate bread bags (think anyone would pick up the pack of them from freecycle?)
*lids - filled with glue/glitter/leftover tissue paper and stuff = ornaments
*decorated like the moroca's but with holes = personalized piggy bank
*keep the halves of plastic easter eggs stacked in so they don't get mashed in storage
*paint rollers do NOT store *indefinitely* in the fridge in a capped pringles can lol
*a pringles can full of sand and with an evergreen branch wrapping the bottom up in decorative piece of fabric kept ds from wanting to change the decorations on our tree every day
*packing crumbly anything in our backpacks for a bike or hike
*in ds's booster seat there is a cupholder - to avoid having many little pieces of toy rolling around the car they go in a can and in the cupholder (I have a little 6pk to change up whats in the car for trips).
*we made homemade puzzles, no box - used a can
*turned them into 'candy jars' - decorated plainly with labels "chocolate", "sour", "gum", etc. because ds didn't like all his candy from parades, trick or treat, etc. getting all mixed together in my one and only cookie jar - the candy is wrapped anyway,it just keeps that broken pixie stick from mixing in your chocolate, that stuff can sneak into any wrapper lol
*collecting future craft items - acorns gathered until used, baby pine cones gathered until used, etc.

[kav122]

wow! Maybe we should buy pringles lol

[lucille]

I had tons of these cool looking plastic containers from Method brand dish cubes. They are colored but transparent plastic and rather heavy duty. I have a bunch of them in my art studio space to keep various things and parts in. I have some out in the garage with nails or screws in them. They stack well and you can see what is inside.

I had a bunch of stainless steel cans from Illy brand coffee back when that was all I could get in town. They are really durable. I use the cans for storing tea or for holding pencils or paintbrushes. The lids make great little trays for small things like paperclips.

I save those clear plastic boxes that salad greens come in. I use some of them for storing cleaned lettuce from the garden in the summer. I used some as pots to start seeds in.

[happysmileylady]

newspaper-... kindling for camping (soak them in water then roll them up tight then tie them with a string and let them dry)

Huh, could you do this for fireplace logs?

we use plastic grocery bags for trash can liners for the little trash cans around the house (bathrooms, office etc). Also we use them for lunch bags.

food tubs like from butter, cream cheese and such, these are used for leftover storage for lunches the next day.

jars from pickles jelly and such are used for holding nuts, bolts and other garage odds and ends.

[kav122]

[quote=happysmileylady;16207]Huh, could you do this for fireplace logs?[quote]

hmm, I don't know, they burn quick...maybe one to get it started.

[Megan]

I've been repurposing my old polycarbonate water bottles, since there seems to be talk of chemicals leaching into the water. (I figure that it doesn't hurt to use a different type of bottle, just to protect myself against the possibility.) So far, I have one on my desk at work filled with change, and I have another with pencils. But since they are fairly sturdy and hard to crush, they're great for storage. Just not for storage of foodstuffs!

[lucille]

I have tons of 5 gal glass pickle jars that we use for storing things in our pantry like various types of flour, sugar, rice, etc.
Most of them we got by consuming the pickles, others we got off of freecycle. Someone had been saving them from church functions because they couldn't bare to throw them away.

[jdp]

Originally Posted by lucille

I have tons of 5 gal glass pickle jars that we use for storing things in our pantry like various types of flour, sugar, rice, etc.

Oh man! Thats a good idea. And here I was putting canisters on my wishlist. No way I'll ever consume that many pickles but I know people who do