Don't Throw That Away

Glass Jars and Plastic Cups

I've always had this strange issue about throwing things away, especially anything reusable. Even recycling doesn't cut it for me. So here's a mini-list of what I don't always throw out.

Glass Jars -- especially salsa and tomato sauce. Once cleaned and labels removed, these jars are incredibly useful. They hold kids craft supplies like paint brushes, markers, googly eyes and scissors. (See here for step by step.) I have one labeled "Homework Pencils" because Leah will find ANY excuse not to do her homework and "not finding a pencil" was an easy one to fix.

You'll find jars of all sizes around the house -- some on the kids' desks (holding rocks and shells) and in windows propagating rosemary. Why buy them!? But, guys, they really shouldn't be used to store food again, okay? Maybe as drinking glasses, but not for canning. Got it?

Plastic Cups -- these I wash and save for my little artists to dip brushes into while creating masterpieces. I don't save every single one, but having them stocked-up means I can recycle them after a paint project if I don't have the energy to re-reuse them. These are apple sauce cups, but the larger yogurt cups work well, too.

Egg Cartons

Egg Cartons -- my little artists use acrylic paint from bottles (it's just easier and there are more color options), so these cartons become SUPER USEFUL as a palate. I easily break them apart, they load them with paint and get to work. The lids are even useful to hold the water cups and brushes. Also, cartons come into play when it's time to start seedlings in the spring.

I had a friend who saved cereal boxes to use as canvases -- they absorbed paint well. And, on the rare instance we do take-out, I try to save those containers, as well.

What do you save and reuse?



Related posts:
More posts about what/how I'm reusing