Thursday, January 22, 2009

Thursday Thrifty Tip: Reuse and Repurpose

It has been a long week here at the Little Blue Bungalow (sick Keegan, lots of commitments and even my first interview since 2001!), so I will be keeping my Thursday Thrifty Tip to a minimum. I know you are all shocked to hear that I will attempt to not babble on, but it is an attempt.

Anyway...today's tip allows you to go wild and dig through your recycling bin without a care in the world. (Aren't you excited?) My kids LOVE this activity. They often dream up all sorts of great "toys": princess castles, teddy bears made of toilet paper rolls, musical instruments (as shown in picture), color on junk mail, etc. And guess how much this fun costs? Nothing.

Now...it isn't all about the kids. Adults can be creative too and reuse yogurt containers for seed starters, cottage cheese containers for left-overs, lid tops to place under plant pots...oh, and my favorite Grandma trick...put cookies in Cool Whip containers to hand out. (Smile.) In addition, I utilize a variety of containers for home improvement projects to hold stain, paint, or hold solution to soak a rusty hinge. My husband, Drew, is also the king of repurposing clear container and baby food jars in his basement wood shop. With the help of a label machine, he has no problems finding the nuts and bolts my handyman Drew needs to get the job done. Ah...the beauty of reusing items for FREE.

So, I'd love to hear what thrifty ideas are are being utilized in your home. What is your most creative reused and repurposed item? And as always...for more great thrifty tips, please view my friend's blogs: Tracy, Genny, Anisa.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean
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3 comments:

Erica Graf said...

I have found those plastic cylinders that mini M & M's come in make a wonderful coin purse. They are colorful and easy to spot at the bottom of my purse. I haven't done this yet, but have always thought that rice milk containers would make wonderful large building blocks for kids--especially if painted or covered with colorful or patterneed contact paper. The top half of a single-serve bottle of water makes a terrific funnel for pouring oil into your car (or other places you might need a funnel).

Oh boy! I'm off to explore the recycling bin right now! :)...

Erica

Nancy Cook said...

Throwing a tennis ball or two into your dryer with your wet clothes works as a great replacement for fabric softener sheets. You can reuse them and they control static cling.

Anonymous said...

The plastic container's are great for gluing tissue paper to for a fun and colorful craft project for kiddos. yes random but tissue paper can add interest to anything. it is best to use the paper that has been reused one too many times as gift wrap. It has more wrinkles.