FRUGAL FRIDAY - Trash or Treasure?

Whew another Friday is here and for many, it's the end of a work week.... but you all know as good as I do, a Mother's Work is never done. I want to share some more good ideas I saw this week around the web and add in a few of my own.  So grab a notepad & pencil to take notes and maybe a glass of sweet tea or coffee if your prefer.  Enjoy!

 

1.  As a homeschooler, I am always looking for ideas and this one just leaped out at me.   If you are short on space and need somewhere to put your maps, consider this... Maps as Blinds.  Now the post was about Old Maps as blinds, but I see potential with current maps.  Don't you just love that idea?!

2. Save and Reuse one-sided paper for printing.  Here's an idea.... Are you teaching your children the Books of the Bible?  Sheri linked to this site on her blog. I printed these out last night and laminated them... granted I did splurge and use clean sheets as I wanted to print the provided backs onto the cards too.

3.  Yard Sales and Thrift Stores are usually a good place to find used games or puzzles.  Scrapbookers have been known (myself included) to use puzzle pieces (altered) into scrapbooking as well as a few game pieces... especially Scrabble letter tiles.  Well here's another idea to use those Scrabble letters... DIY: Scrabble Coasters

4.  Got Buttons?  Are you a scrapbooker?  Check out the second layout on this post: CHA Sneak Peek #3

5. Fabric Scraps can be turned into a Piece of Art or make what scrapbookers calls "Frazzles" which are strips of fabric that are frayed on he edges and use in scrapbooking.

6.  Ok, not a trash to treasure but it will help you eliminate buying Swiffer pads for that Swiffer you may own... 13 Ways To Make Your Own Swiffer

7. Dyer Lint?  Candle Stubs? Cardboard Egg Cartons? Don't toss them out!  Make Your Own Fire Starters!

8.  Make your own Cloth Grocery Bags from an unwanted T-Shirt. (Hat tip to Money Saving Mom.  I post this in the Works For Me Wednesday post too in case you think you're seeing double.)

9. Another repeat... Drink Soda?  Make a 2 Liter Soda Bottle Wasp Trap for use this coming Spring and Summer. This also works for beetles.

And I just saw in the new issue of Family Fun... a terrarium made from a 2 liter soda bottle by cutting the top off and turning it down over a potted seedling plant.

10. Need a quick diaper change box for the car or even church nursery? Don't toss out the diaper wipe box... Diapers fit nicely in the plastic wipes box

11.  Don't toss out old panty hose because here is TWENTY USES FOR OLD PANTY HOSE.

and now a few ideas from me....

12. Use egg cartons to sort things in drawers... craft drawers or desk drawers.... each little eggs slot can hold paper clips, push pins, buttons, etc.

13. Got a good size cardboard box? Don't recycle it just yet.  Find an inconspicuous corner to stick it in and fill it up with things you find in your home to donate to the local second hand store.  I do this and it really helps when to keep it on hand when we have clothing that is outgrown and no longer needed.

14. Another use for the cardboard box is to make a path with in your garden rows to cut down on weeds.  Feed bags work the same way if you have large feed bags from animals (dogs, cats, or any farm animal feed bag)... also large bags from if you buy sugar or wheat in bulk works well too.

15. While I'm on the feed bag mention.... don't toss the strings from the feed bags.  Save them to hang up herbs or flowers to dry. Use them to tie up plants if you don't have old panty hose to cut in strips and use.  Children can use them for crafts or even use to tie to a homemade kit.

16. Recycle newspaper as mulch in your garden or make a homemade kite, a sailor's hat, plastic to a balloon to make a piñata then pop the balloon... there is directions online to make these and more

17. Dishsoap bottles - save, wash out completely, fill with water and give to a child in the heat of summer as a squirt bottle to play water games with siblings or neighborhood children.  I much prefer this over letting my children play with water guns... I don't like toy guns so I don't buy them or let my children play with them. Yes, we have a qualm with the scenario of children playing with guns --- teaches them violence in our opinion. Anyway, I digress. On to the next one.

18.  Scoops that come in detergent boxes.  Wash thoroughly and dry them off.  Makes great scoops for pet food as well as children will enjoy playing with them outside in the dirt or sandpiles. My girls like playing with them in their toy kitchen too.

19. If you buy the clementines when they are in season, don't toss the crates out.  They make great little storage bins for flash cards in the class room, or storage for sauce packets in the kitchen, or bins for toy cars in the boys room...  lots of storage possibilities.

20. Subscription cards from magazines... .Fold in half from short side to short side.  Tape sides up leaving top open.  fill with seeds and label for next years garden.  Be sure to tape the top closed after you have filled it with seeds.  Label it with the name and any pertinent information about planting

21. Plastic grocery bags.... they are small enough to fit into small waste baskets... like used in many bathrooms.  Carry a few in a diaper bag to put soiled clothing in until you get home.  If you get an overabundance... bag them up and take to the recycle bin at a local grocery store.

22. If you live in an area that you can compost,  don't toss the coffee grounds into the garbage... toss it into the compost along with egg shells, leaf clippings, and more to get some really "nutrient rich dirt" to use in your gardens.

23. Styrofoam meat trays - wash thoroughly with hot soap water... use as a water drip pan under plants,  use as craft trays for paint or glue, etc. when doing crafts... you can even poke holes in the bottom for drainage holes and plant in them as seed starting trays

24. Mesh bags that onions and potatoes come in...  cut the labels and the metal pieces off, bunch or roll up into a ball, tie with a little of the feed bag string if you have it and you've just made yourself a dish scrubber that won't scratch your dishes or pots/pans.

25. Potato Skins... scrub the potatoes thoroughly when preparing to peel them.  Don't throw the skins away.   Place them on a baking sheet with the peel side down.  put a little butter, salt & pepper, as well as sprinkle cheese and bacon bits onto each peel.  Bake in oven long enough for the cheese to melt.  You made appetizers for a fraction of the cost similar to those that a major restaurant makes and sells for a ridiculous price.

26. Spaghetti Sauce jars, Mayo jars, and other glass jars... use them to sort and store items.

27. Milk jugs or other plastic jugs (bleach, etc.) - cut in half and use the top portion to cover young plants when a frost is expected. Punch holes in the bottom and use as a plant starter tray.  Cut the bottom off at an angle and use as a scoop for fertilizer, animal feed, etc. Just be sure to leave the lid on.  I just saw in the new issue of Family Fun a Easter basket (bucket) made from a milk jug

28. milk jug lids ... save them to make makeshift checker pieces... leave as is or spray paint them if you have some extra spray paint hanging around... just be sure to let them dry good.

29. metal juice lids ... punch a hole at on edge and tie string through at different lengths to make a wind chime. OR use the hold to put a piece of thin metal rod (think metal clothes hanger thickness) and use as garden markers. Right on them with a marker.   Something similar to these... http://www.gardenmarker.com/traditio.htm

Even popsicle sticks could be used to make garden or plant markers

30.  Old CD's or ones that come in the mail?  alter them into gifts... OR tie  them in your garden to reflect sunlight and scare the birds and animals away from your veggie plants

31. Dental Floss boxes... I saw the cutest idea in the new issue of Family Fun... someone had made little purses out of them by painting and decorating and adding  ribbon or yarn for the handle.

Ok that's enough for this week. I hope you found something of use.

For more Frugal Friday Participants, stop by Biblical Womanhood.

 

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GIVEAWAY to win one of two copies of Death of a Six-Foot Teddy

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