I’m horrible when it comes to throwing out containers. I always think there just has to be a use for them at some point – so I save them. One of my favorite saves that I’ve found uses for are store bakery containers like these:
I know – you’re saying the frosting is yucky to have to clean out – but really it isn’t if you run hot water over it and then wash with some good dish detergent. Invert them and they’ are great for holding crayons, fabric, craft projects, fish – Yes, I said fish – take a look:
Meet Fish! Yup, that’s his name. Mom didn’t want anymore fish, but daughter thought she did, and brought Fish home from the fair. Well, a fair fish wasn’t getting a new tank and mom wasn’t cleaning anymore fish homes either (I will feed him though). Regardless, Fish needed a place to live his life other than a plastic bag and the tiny bowl he was brought home in. That’s when mom decided to put cake containers to use. This one is like his 3rd one – but that’s only because Fish has gone down on the floor from cats fighting on the bookcase he was originally kept on. Now his home consumes my kitchen countertop – but he’s safe! In fact, I think he really likes it there. The cats will play with him from the sides – they torture each other. You can see Studley Dudley’s snout in the picture – he was being nosy. To make it easier to clean Fish – I placed a cookie sheet under him. This gives the container more support when transporting it to and from the sink with water in it.
These containers below hold crayons and a craft project I am working on.
After grocery shopping, I will put snacks in them and put the container on the stove. This makes it simple for the LNA’s to grab my son a snack or my daughter to grab her school snack.
Let’s recap….use these containers for:
- Crayons
- Craft Projects
- Sewing Projects
- Sewing Supplies
- Craft Paints
- Fabric
- Fish Homes
- Snacks
- Home Baked Goodies
- Take Goodies to Parties (you don’t have to worry about the container being returned)
- Send Goodies to School for Kid’s B-days
- Store Staples (sugar, flour)
- Little Toy Pieces
- Cat Food/Dog Food
The list goes on – use your imagination and save yourself some money by up-cycling these containers 🙂
We used an inverted cake container like these to make a home for some crickets that we used for a science project. We had a different thing (rocks, sand, grass, etc. ) in each corner so we could learn which environment they preferred. We had to poke holes in the lid but it was so much better than having to buy a home for them.
I always save our containers too. I use them for school supplies and stuff like that.
I always save the plastic containers. Get for packing my husband lunch in for work
i use them to org. my junk drawer
They are great for that purpose!
I SO hate these plastic things, so I try as much as possible to not buy pre-made bakery products that come in them. but sometimes, you just need a treat. I like your idea of pet food – and I can use them to feed the feral cats in my neighborhood. At least they’ll get some additional re-use before I see if I can recycle them…