Thursday, June 4, 2009

Thursday 13 - Reuse


We had yummy strawberries this past weekend! Fresh from the Oregon fields...

It's got us thinking about juice dribbing down the chin when we go pick them. Smoothies and freezer jam. And that huge box of empty baby food jars we left behind in Mozambique.

We spent at least 13 hours trying to think of something to do with those jars. We planned to give away hot chocolate mix for Christmas, but we couldn't find the vital ingredients in Mozambique OR South Africa, like decent chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and candy canes.

But those baby food jars would be JUST PERFECT for strawberry freezer jam. Oh well...

A while back we asked what household trash items you keep for activities with your kids, and how you use them.

This two-year-old is quite adept at reusing straight out of the trash can... Recycled bandaids as stickers is a new favorite.

Just thought I'd share your list back with you all for this Thursday 13. But you're gonna get a double 13...

  1. Pie Tins. Paint pallets.
  2. Discarded Food Boxes (Cereal, etc.). Play grocery store.
  3. Toilet Paper Tubes. Binoculars.
  4. Paper Towel Rolls. Telescopes - cover with construction paper and stickers.
  5. Egg Cartons. Paint pallets. Plant seedings in them. Angels.
  6. Shoe Boxes. Dioramas. Containers for collections.
  7. Paper Bags. Vests. "Drip paper" for paintings.
  8. Tissue Boxes. Shoes.
  9. Old Wrapping Paper and Tissue Paper. Stained glass window projects. Ghosts.
  10. Old Greeting Cards and Calendar Pictures. Collages. New cards.
  11. Packing Peanuts. Little people.
  12. Plastic Milk Jugs. http://familycrafts.about.com/od/plasticjugcrafts/Plastic_Jug_Crafts.htm. Use the lids to shake and put things in.
  13. Milk & Juice Cartons. Houses. Bird feeder. Bird house. Pencil/pen holder. http://www.kinderart.com/crafts/milkcpenpot.shtml

List #2:

  1. Popsicle Sticks. http://crafts.kaboose.com/wood/crafts-popsicle-sticks.html
  2. Baby Food Jars. Snow globes. http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/babyfoodjar.htm
  3. Corks. http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/craftdetails3.cfm?CraftID=1388
  4. Coffee Cans & Oatmeal Containers. Drums. Marble painting.
  5. Applesauce Cups and Yogurt Cups. Painting cups.
  6. Cereal Boxes. Leak-proof paintings.
  7. Crystal Lite Containers. Banks.
  8. Walnut Shells. Face refrigerator magnets.
  9. Spice Shaker Bottles. For shaking glitter.
  10. Pringle Containers. Bowling pins.
  11. Baby Formula Tubs and Peanut Butter Jars. Canisters to keep things/collections in. Donation cans for fundraising or lemonade stands.
  12. Newspaper. You can rip into strips and dunk in flour/water and put it over a blown up balloon. When hard, pop balloon and make a pinata or masks, or whatever!
  13. Cupcake Papers. Flowers.

So take a look or 13 at what you're dumping in the trash can - the reuse options are 13 x infinity, even without reusing the bandaids!

By the way, we had a wonderful time with cousins and at the coast this weekend. I just haven't had a chance to sort through photos, yet. It'll happen....

More Thursday 13 participants can be found here.

Thanks to Samulli for the Thursday 13 header.

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8 comments:

Hootin Anni said...

Just one word for this double treat for us...

EXCELLENT!!!

My Thirteen is posted...a message to all cats/dogs AND their owners. All in fun! Happy day wishes to you....

I am Harriet said...

I remember re-using those tubes for binoculars as a kid. How funny.
http://iamharriet.blogspot.com/2009/06/lovin-thursday.html

Alice Audrey said...

You know how a lot of packages have a plastic face over a cardboard back? Those plastic faces are often just a kind of rectangle dish. They make wonderful disposable holders, like for paint or glue. I save them up because when we start to use them we go through them fast.

ShEiLa said...

My Grandma Charma was awesome at using and re-using everything.

She would take the wrapper off the butter... place it back in the fridge and when whe made bread she would grease the pans with the butter left on the wrapper. When you live during a depression you live without throwing out.

ToOdLeS.

ps. sometimes we did have to worry about the shelf-life of the food in her fridge. It just wasn't worthy of human consumption... we learned that the hard way.

More Than Words said...

Wow...those are wonderful ideas! My kids use alot of those already, but now they'll have much more!!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

xinex said...

Thanks for the great ideas!...Christine

Will said...

We are in Oregon also and I can verify there is nothing quite like the strawberries fresh from the field. We used to have 4 acres of them in the field behind our house, free for the picking. Now we buy them, but they are still the best thing around... at least until peach season!

Thanks for your visit and comment!

Madeline said...

Strawberries....yum!
Nice list of reusables. We love repurposing things around here too!