Wait, Wait, Don't Throw Me!
Have you ever been this close to pitching something when it suddenly hits you that it would be the perfect vessal to hold all of your {insert any random collection of items here}? I love it when this happens - giving a second life to something that would otherwise be tossed just FEELS good.
So, without further ado, I'm sharing a few of my favorite items to hack into a new type of storage container below.
CANDLE HOLDERS - I clean out my candle jars to re-use all over my house. If they are clear, I'll fill them with sand or pebbles and use them as a holder for a smaller votive candle. In my bathroom, I have one filled with hair binders (aka, hair ties for all of you Indiana folk). In an office, they are a great solution to organize pens or markers.
PILL BOTTLES - Pull the prescription stickers off and you've got yourself a perfect little container to hold bobby pins - especially when traveling.
RANDOM CONTAINERS - I purchased the egg crate pictured above on a whim, because I thought it would look pretty in my fridge. Confession, while it looked pretty, it seemed weird to pull eggs out of a crate to put in another crate. ;) But it is the PERFECT container to hold all of my earrings. Sometimes you just have to think a bit outside the darn box.
SHOE BOXES - Spruce a shoe box up by covering it in wrapping paper. Now you've got yourself a pretty box to fill with card games, momentos, or use it to house blank greeting cards (sorted by category, of course). Another use is as a shipping container when you are decluttering your closet and selling your items off - check out my Top 5 tips for Selling on Poshmark are HERE)!
GIFT BOXES - Around the holidays, you can find cosmetic sets housed in the most beautiful cardboard boxes (Origins always seems to have the best). Rather than tossing these in the recycling, consider repurposing to organize items in your linen closet. We've got one that has been holding our first aid supplies for about six years (and it still looks so darn pretty).
VASES - Don't just save these for the occasional bouquet of flowers! House sample size toiletries in a tall vase in your guest bath or add them to your barcart to hold drinks stirrers + straws.
PAPER STRAWS - One way to keep delicate necklaces detangled will traveling is to slip one end through a paper straw prior to clasping it. Sometimes I'll go one step further by tucking each one inside a plastic bag.
So next time you are about to toss an item into the bin, consider how you might use it once more. There is no right or wrong way to keep things organized, and this is a great way to keep costs down when you tackle an organizational project!
Let me know if you have any fun hacks for reusing items again!