Ideas For Reusing Common Household Items
As you all know by now, I have never considered myself “environmentally” correct, but I have always believed in using what you have. I hate throwing things away, not because I’m afraid I’m going to destroy the environment, but because, to me, it is to me foolish to waste things. This is how our grandmothers felt, too.
Then again, I really should say I’m saving the environment because I would probably make more money that way, rather than just saying, “You shouldn’t waste things.” : ) Once again, I will stop before I get into trouble.
I love to find uses for all kinds of things. As a result, I have very little trash. Here are a couple of ideas about how to use things you might normally throw away.
Plastic spice or seasonings bottles
- Wash a plastic bottle and fill it with flour. Use it to sprinkle flour on meat when the recipe calls for coating the meat. I like to use mine to sprinkle my counter with flour when rolling out cookies, pie crusts etc. I did get an extra Parmesan cheese jar that I use for this too.
- You could also fill these plastic bottles with powdered cleaners. I have no space in my bathroom, so it would be much easier for me to store a small spice bottle of cleanser then storing a larger can there. Keep a plastic bottle in the garage with the tools or gardening supplies for times when you need to scrub something outside or near an outside faucet for your hubby to clean his greasy hands.
- Fill spice bottles with meat rubs or other homemade seasonings that you make.
Plastic lids from cottage cheese, sour cream or similar containers
- Wash the lids. Then place about 1/2 cup of hamburger on one (lip side up) and press down with your hand or with another lid. Stack and place in a plastic bag or freezer container. When you need only one or two patties, the easily pop apart because they were frozen separately.
- Place plastic lids under things like honey or syrup bottles to keep your shelves clean.
- Plastic lids are great to use in the craft room to place beads, buttons, glitter and other accessories in while you’re crafting.
- If you need a circle template for a cake or a craft, plastic lids work great.
- Use a plastic lid as a scraper.
- Use a lid from a can of Pringles (lip side up) and glue something magnetic to the bottom of it to use for a magnetized pin cushion. (Things like those magnetized business cards you get to hang on the fridge are ideal.) These work great at the end of an ironing board for those of you who sew and are a nice size to tuck in a sewing kit to travel with.
Pastry brush
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This tip is not so much using something up as using what you have on hand. I don’t own a pastry brush because I so rarely use one. The one time I had a pastry brush, I hated cleaning it, so here is an idea what to use when you need a disposable brush.
Clip a small piece of paper towel to a clothespin. When you’re done, just dump the little piece of paper towel.
Rubber gloves
- Did your rubber gloves spring a leak? Cut the fingers off and slip them on when you are sewing if you have a hard time gripping the needle to pull it through.
- When you can’t open your polish bottles or other jars that are hard to open, slip on your rubber glove to help you open them.
- Cut the bottom part of of rubber gloves into strips to use as heavy duty rubber bands.
-Jill
Dear Tawra, Just wanted to let you know that I am praying for you and your family today! Mary
Hello, I am getting antsy!!!! I have to wait until 8 a.m. Wednesday until I get the result of pathology. That will determine whether I will need chemo therapy or not. Why is it that the last 2 months have just sped away, while the last couple of days are dragging. Hmmmmmm. I can deal with needing chemo, it’s the waiting that’s driving me “nuts!” I am still surprised at not having any pain after the mastectomy. I’m not upset at all about it, though. LOL I’m also surprised that I was released by the doctor to come home 22 hours after the surgery. I expected at least a week or two recovering.
I’ll let you know Wednesday around noon or so EST, what I’ll find out at the doctor’s.
Fondly, Peg
I don’t blame you Peg. If it gets too bad and you really start tearing your hair out this might be a good time to call in your support system although you really do sound in good spirits.
We will all be waiting to hear from you on Wed. We will try and post you as soon as we can but if it takes just a little bit it won’t be because we forgot you I just maybe running back and forth between my house and Tawra’s. It’s suppose to storm today and Wed. and she has a past record of going into labor when it storms so I maybe at the hospital but barring that I will be watching for your post.
Jill
Peg,
You are still in my prayers. I’ll look for your update later today.
Angie
I love these tips! The one about using the empty spice containers is brilliant!
Also read through your suggestions on how to shop easily when you are tired all the time – excellent. I’ll share this with my community of women who are getting rid of fatigue …
Thanks so much.
Viveca
Jill
You are so right about the seasoning bottles! I have been doing this for years. not only do I use them for flour, I have also found that when I forget and leave on of my good blouses in the dryer{ I only use it to fluff and then hang dry} all I have to do is sprinkle a little water on it here and there and hang it up wrinkles come out fine!
Jill,
I was just reading the article about not throwing things out. Boy you sure have some great ideas.
I am currently reading Dining on a Dime cookbook, and I was wondering if you could answer a question for me. How do you store fresh picked lettuce leaves in the refrigerator?
I just picked some fresh lettuce from our very first garden for BLT sandwiches for dinner tonight, and I had some left over. I washed all the leaves and put them on paper towels. The towels were still damp when I went to put the lettuce away in the refrigerator so I just left them on the paper towels and placed the whole thing in a zip loc bag and put in the fridge. Is this the correct way to store them. I don’t want them to wilt or spoil before I can use them in a big chicken salad I am making on Thursday for lunch. Any input you have would be greatly appreciated. I know things are busy for everyone in your family right now.
Please tell Tawra and Mike they are in our prayers and I can’t wait to see the newest member of the family. Here’s to an easy pain free delivery Tawra. Good Luck.
Thanks so much for teaching me how to be frugal.
Sara
Fillmore CA
Sara that is fine the way you are doing it. You can also put it in a Tupperware container with a paper towel to store it.
I have heard of some people putting it in a bowl of water with 1 teaspoon of sugar. They say that makes it nice and crisp although I have never tried it myself.
Moisture and cutting lettuce are it’s 2 main enemies that cause it to rot.
I don’t do my lettuce like normal people though. I also usually use head lettuce and all I do is tear one side of the plastic it comes in; tear off what I need; rewrap in it’s original package and toss in the veggie bin. Mine stays for a couple of weeks that way.
That is head lettuce where fresh garden leaf is more delicate so I think you way is best. I always also line my veggie drawer with a paper towel. I do this for easy clean up but I also think without realizing it that is helps with the moisture for all of my veggies which maybe why they seem to last so long for me.
Hope this helped and wasn’t too confusing.
Jill
Searching for money saving ideas. Stumbled on your site and LOVE it!
Be sure to LABEL those little containers carefully. No one wants to sprinkle cleanser on top of spaghetti!!!
When my fresh eggs get close to expiration, I hard boil them. I always like to keep a small bowl of hard boiled eggs in the fridge for a quick and low-calorie pick-me-up. BUT, if they are getting a little old- or I am going to be away, I peel them and put them in my pickle jar. The longer they sit there, the better!! I just love pickled eggs!!
I saw in a magazine once, where a lady re-decorated her kitchen and used splatter ware kitchen colanders as shades for hanging pendulum light fixtures in her kitchen. The colanders were drilled through the bottom, and her husband used a proper electrical kit to turn them into light fixtures. That inspired me to use various shapes of dollar store basic waste paper baskets as light shades for hanging light fixtures in my living room. First I used tall opaque plastic ones in pale colours and they worked great. When we remodelled I found some unique tin ones with vintage prints on them. The plastic ones give a soft glow, and the tin ones had to be hung a little higher, because the light is concentrated straight down. Tin shades can be tin punched with holes for a design, or to give more ambient light. What is neat about getting the waste paper baskets from the dollar store is that they are inexpensive, and several can be bought of the same type for mixing or matching. I never paid more than five dollars for any one waste paper basket/shade.
My husband was a mega lamp and clock collector. He told me he didn’t care what it was you could make a lamp out of it one way or another. Yesterday I saw a thing and they had taken old men’s hats and used them for lamp shades. I use to drive my husband crazy because would take old lamps and make planters out of them instead of lamps. : )
Rice, oats, lentils etc can be stored in those large plastic supermarket milk bottles. I’m very lucky that, in our area, the milkman delivers fresh milk in returnable glass bottles four days a week.
Magedalen I love milk in glass bottles. You are so lucky. They have it at our grocery store but I’m afraid it costs about 4 times the amount of other milk but I have treated myself a couple of times. You are very lucky. : )
Parmesan lids fit a small mason jar perfect, this is great to use for cleanser, bulk seasonings that sort of thing.
Old blue jeans are great to use the fabric for multiple purposes. I have made several blue jean quilts with an old wool blanket as the batting and flannel on the back. So very comfy. Blue jeans also are great ways to make purses. Take the ribbing from the jeans and twist them into a circle on a plastic lid, gluing as you go, these make great coasters.
Old tank tops with the bottom sewed make nice multipurpose carrying bags.
Great ideas Ellen. I saw last night too the cutest short apron made from jean pockets to keep your sewing things in like scissors, tape measure, rotary cutter etc.
I reuse a squeeze syrup bottle for cooking oil. Drips are no longer a messy problem.