Top 10 Trashy Treasures

In lieu of Earth Day I decided to look for some good recycling projects to do with the sidekicks. As usual, I found way more potential project ideas than I could ever even think about doing. But with all of the wonderful ways to reuse, as great as it all sounds, the big problem that I have is space. I don't have enough of it! If you do have plenty of space, then, no problem. But searching for trashy treasures can become pretty addictive and I do tend to have a bit of an obsessive personality. I am not trying to land myself on the next episode of Hoarders.

So I've compiled a list of the top 10 "must save" trashy items along with ideas for how to manage the extra clutter.

#10 Baby food jars
They are great! They make wonderful storage containers for anything small. They can be used to store homemade paints. They can be used to plant a seed or catch a bug. They can be decorated to make pretty tealight candle holders. They only make #10 on my list because they are pretty hard to come by unless you have a baby in the house. And even then, many people choose to make their own baby food. Super E is a toddler now and we don't buy a lot of baby food. No baby food = no baby food jars. If you do not have any baby food, maybe you have another product that is packaged in small jars. Our bouillon comes in jars that are just a little bigger than the baby food jars.

 

If the labels are difficult to remove soak them in hot water. Then you can tackle any remaining sticky residue with Goo Gone. You can find it at most stores in the cleaning isle. It takes the sticky right off! 

Here are just a few of the neat ideas I've found for using the jars:

1. Lego head storage jars

2. Crayon organizer

3. Animal jars 

4. Magnetic spice jars

5. Snowman ornament

6. Snowman candle holder

#9 Small clear plastic bottles
There are many things that you can do with large soda bottles but they take up a lot of space. I try to keep a few smaller bottles on hand (water bottles or small drink bottles). They can take up quite a bit of storage space as well. But they are super useful so it's always nice to have a few around.

Here are a few ways that you can use them:

1. Sumo bowling (Too cute!)

2. Maracas

3. Bio dome lesson

4. Glow bottles

5. Discovery bottles

6. Waterfall


#8 Cereal boxes, shoe boxes, and other cardboard
Cardboard has so many uses! Boxes can take up a lot of space but if you take them apart they fold flat for easy storage.



They can slide right under the bed and they're out of sight. People do some really amazing stuff with cardboard! But if nothing else, the kids can draw on it.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Trains and cars

2. 50+ things to do with cereal boxes

3. Mailboxes and more

4. Build a rocket

5. Doll bed

6. Pizza

#7 Magazines
These are great for art projects. Let the kids cut out pictures and words and glue them to their work. Once they've had a lot of use and are starting to get pretty holy, throw them out and replace them with new ones.

Here are some ways to get the most out of your magazines:

1. Making faces

2. Make a vase.

3. Make a bow.

4. Picture frame

5. Magazine box

#6 Egg cartons
They can get bulky but if you open them up you can stack them. They can be used for paint trays, art projects, games, sorting activities, or even growing seeds.

More ideas:

1. Play dentist

2. Flowers

3. Table centerpiece

4. Make an owl.

5. Christmas tree - Will need a lot of egg cartons for this one!

6. Spy glasses

#5 Newspapers
We use these daily for protecting our table from our arts and crafts projects. Of course you can do more with newspapers than using them as a paint guard but that alone makes them worth keeping.

Here are some other things you might like to try:

1. Make a Koala.

2. Make a hat.

3. Build a fort.

4. Make a basket.

5. Paper mache

#4 Grocery bags
I line our trash cans with these. They make good diaper disposers too. Why would you throw away an empty trash bag? They are definite keepers! You could crumple them and let the kids experiment with stamping paint to see the texture. You could use them to stuff a scarecrow. But mainly, we use them for trash bags.

#3 Toilet paper/paper towel/wrapping paper rolls
Sword fight! Binoculars! There are so many things you can do with cardboard rolls!

Here are a few:

1. Super hero cuffs - Yes, we will be making these!

2. Make a snake

3. Snowman

4. Octopus

5. Loads of other ideas

#2 Advertisement magnets
You know, like the ones that come on the front of the phone book. I never throw these away. Free magnets! Cut these up and glue them to whatever. The only issue with these is that they are usually pretty weak. So you wouldn't want to glue them to anything too heavy.





Which brings us to the #1 junky jewel - Bottle caps
Yes, I said bottle caps. If you have a young child, bottle caps are awesome! And the best part - they take up very little space. You can collect them to your heart's content and just throw them all in a box somewhere. Count them, stack them, play games with them, stick foam stickers to them and use them as stampers, sort them, use them in art projects, the possibilities are endless!

But just in case you aren't sure what to do with them here are a few more ideas:

1. Spell with them.

2. Make spiders.

3. Ladybugs - Adorable!

4. 10 bottle cap activities

5. Mosaics

6. More ideas


I have no cabinet space to spare so I bought a pop up laundry hamper to store away some of my finds. It was really cheap - Just a few dollars. And it helps to hide my stash.

 

Happy Earth Day!

 

Questions and comments are always welcome. You can also email me at adventuresofahomeschoolmama@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by! Please make sure to check back. I'm just getting started but I will be adding new stuff daily.