I came across an article recently that talked about the fabulous subject of repurposing common items, rather than throwing them away. Here are some of my favorites:
1. Use avocado shells or egg cartons for seed starting:
- Instead of paying for these…
- Opt for these…
- Or the inside of a halved avocado, extra nutrients for your soil!
Try it, it's fun and easy to do!
When I was a kid, my father showed me how to start an avocado tree using a jar of water and some toothpicks. I have one tree that I’ve managed to keep alive for 2 years that I’m particularly proud of..
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Last summer I did a few avocado screen prints to express my love for them:
2. Use a ketchup bottle to store pancake batter (less mess! Great storage!). Or homemade salad dressings and sauces.
3. Keep the left-over coffee in your coffee pot. Put it into an ice cube tray, and then you can have iced coffee later! Plus, you can add some milk, cocoa, and whipped cream in a glass to your coffee cubes, and instantly have a fancy treat without much work! I will definitely put this one to use, because I can never manage to make the right amount of coffee..*The old coffee grounds are also great for compost!*
(I always have leftover coffee in the pot, and with warm weather approaching this is a great idea!)
4. Use an old pair of jeans to make potholders. This works great for jeans that are too torn up to take to Goodwill or the thrift store. Just layer some cloth or padding (old t-shirts work) between two denim squares, and sew by hand for a more rugged look, or with a sewing machine for a more polished look.
So cute. Great for a spring/summer dinner party!
5. Citrus infused cooking oil. Instead of throwing away those orange/lemon peels, put them in a bottle of olive oil to make fancy infused oils for cooking! You can always add other things too, like cinnamon sticks, or cranberries. Another use for citrus peels is to add them to a baking dish when cooking meats or vegatables, and then after you cook put them in your compost. They break down faster this way than they do raw.
Use a mason jar or pretty bottle, with a ribbon around it, and this makes a great gift as well!
6. Reuse old tires as planters. This is one of my favorites. Partly because there is a giant tractor tire in my backyard which I’m going to turn into a pretty bed for spring flowers. Ask to keep the old tires on your car when you go to get new ones. Or, sadly, there are generally old tires around rivers, lakes, and roadsides due to the fact it seems a common place to pitch them…
- In the USA, about 300 million tires are scrapped or dumped per year.
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So why not use them for this:
I love this idea.
Think of all the colors you could paint them!
7. Ten uses for newspaper, some you’ve probably never considered! (I know I have a stack in my kitchen…) Use newspaper to:
-
Ripen tomatoes. Wrap them individually and leave them out at room temperature.
- Simple twine and hand made cards
Using old road maps!
- Sheet Music!
- Prepare a garden. In the fall, mow a patch of lawn to make room for a dedicated bed. Cover it with four layers of newspaper, then a four-inch layer of shredded leaves or bark mulch. Hose it down. Come spring, the compost blanket will have smothered the grass roots, and the bed will be primed for planting.
- Keep the refrigerator vegetable drawer dry and free of smells. Line the bottom with newspaper.
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8. Use wine corks to make a cork board with a frame, or to make coasters. (There are tons of uses for wine corks, just google it and you’ll be amazed…)
Or consider donating your unused corks to this great charity organization!
- Coasters- You could even paint them or cover them with plexiglass cut outs and just use the corks as a base.
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9. Other uses for CD’s. The cool thing about CD’s is that you can apply an image to them fairly easily, so it’s like having a surface with endless possibilities. You can also color them with sharpies and such. One idea is to use them as coasters – just cut out felt and glue it to the bottom! Or you can cover the entire CD with fabric or crochet/knit.
Knitted/crocheted coasters
Vinyl and cloth coaster
Images burned to a cd
Another idea is to use cd’s as invitations for a party.. You could put a mix on it!
Invitation on a cd
Another use is making mosaic out of broken cd’s (cover a box, make a tile, or sparkly ornament for your garden)
(We've all stepped on a few..)
Another thought is to use broken cd’s to make jewelry.. Check these out:
Flower and earrings from melted cd's
OR THIS…
CD chair
As you can see there are lots of possibilities for shiny, awesome, smashable cd’s…
10. Vodka… Aside from being my liquer of choice, this alcoholic beverage has more to offer than it’s delightful oral consumption.
- ..Shiny…….
I was surprised by the many uses I found in a recent article, here are the basic points:
- To remove a bandage painlessly, saturate the bandage with vodka. The solvent dissolves adhesive
- To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers, fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking, let set five minutes and wash clean. The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew.
- Clean jewelry. Soak the jewelry in vodka for five minutes, then rinse, and dry.
- Clean lipstick from clothing. Rub the stain with vodka, then throw into your regular wash.
- Remove the glue left behind by a bumper sticker. Rub the glue with a soft, clean cloth soaked with vodka
- Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka and letting your safety razor blade soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting.
- Spray vodka on vomit stains, scrub with a brush, then blot dry. (How appropriate..)
- Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face as an astringent to cleanse the skin and tighten pores.
- Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo. The alcohol cleanses the scalp, removes toxins from hair, and stimulates the growth of healthy hair.
- Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle and spray bees or wasps to kill them.
Read more: http://www.divinecaroline.com/33672/45476-uses-vodka#ixzz1FhFaQagg
I hope you find these ideas as helpful as I did! There are unlimited ways to reuse common things. As Levar Burton would say… “But you don’t have to take my word for it…” 
Happy weekend!!
Photo credit: Wendy D. Johnson
