What great ideas!

We have home food storage and find we get quite a few #10 cans we can recycle. A couple years ago we converted them into "Hobo Stoves" for our family for Christmas as an emergency cooking stove for them.

To go along with the Hobo Stoves we also took empty tuna cans and made "Buddy Burners" out of them (cardboard or sawdust and paraffin wax). We've made these for years out of the small cans we accumulate, and donated them to a church group who hand them out to the homeless to use for heat and cooking.

We keep a couple #10 cans filled with emergency things in our vehicles, including one filled with sand for tire traction on ice/snow in the winter.

In the kitchen #10 cans are decorated (paint, paper, etc.) and used as canisters which hold grains/seeds/beans in the pantry.

The clear clam-shell containers I get from the deli salad bar get recycled into planters for micro-greens. Cut apart and nest the two pieces together. Poke some drainage holes in the planter (top) portion and use the bottom to catch any moisture.

I use 1-gallon plastic bottles vinegar comes in and make plastic scoops out of them (be sure to secure the lid on with glue). I have also made them into large funnels, in which case, don't glue the lids on.

-Grainlady

I love to repurpose containers of all kinds! Just today I bought something on a clearance table just because of the containers.

The gray tops are baking products e.g. baking soda, baking powder, corn starch.

The bottles with the green tops are Argo Tea bottles. The left side are various salts and peppers; the right are sugars.

I reuse #10 cans for my grandkids to store their "Grandma's House" toys. For instance - Legos - I use construction paper to cover a can in red, yellow, etc. so they can keep track of their pieces. Other cans are decorated for Fisher Price people, another can for small games (jump ropes, jacks, marbles, etc.) The cans stack neatly on "their" closet shelf storing way more than we could if the toys were loose.

I also decorate the cans for the holidays and use them as gift containers for larger cut-out cookies and muffins.

I've been reusing the same baby wipe container for my homemade quick clean-up cloths made from worn out tees for years.

I have Sjogren's and go thru what seems like tons of Altoids. I reuse those containers for lots of stuff from eyeglass repair kit, sewing kit, mini-emergency tool kit including an emergency saw, desk clutter (paperclips, rubber bands, etc.), and spare keys. Lots of uses. The tins are easy to paint and a label maker finishes the job.

/tricia

The best thing I've ever repurposed is the plastic dish drainer in my kitchen sink. I use it in my cupboard to hold the lids to my pots and pans.
Also, my DILs save the little plastic, rectangular baby food containers for me to store beads and jewelry making supplies.

When my sisters and I had babies and toddlers around, our dad asked us to save baby food jars for him. He loved using them for holding wasahers,nails,etc in his basement toolbench.Dad was always big on recycling and using things for different purposes.

All winter I save clear plastic containers-wash and dry them. They make great covers (cloches) for the seeds I start indoors in March.I get extras free when I visit the salad bar in my store. Just grab three or four containers, fill one with salad, you pay by the weight.

Back when we used roll film, the canisters the film came in were great for all sorts of things. I still have some, filled with Bobby pins, quarters, buttons, spare thread that came with clothing, pins, tacks, and probably more that are not coming to mind.

We use a plastic photo box with dividers for playstation games. It's great because the dividers keep the games from falling over so the spines are always visible, and the lid keeps the dust out so it is easy to clean. We also use one of them for our Christmas cards.

I repurposed a small cosmetics case for a dental kit for my invisalign supplies. It's just right to hold the tray case, a toothbrush, travel size toothpaste, pocket mirror, floss, Outtie removal aid, and numbing gel (just in case). It goes in my purse each morning so I am prepared for lunch at work, then I let it air out overnight.

I also use a small cosmetics case for all my chargers when traveling. A small rectangle holds my headphones, headphone splitter, iPod charger and cell phone charger. Much easier to tuck in my carry on than a tangle of wires and they stay together and relatively neat.

We used to make banks out of containers with plastic lids when I was little. The ones like Nestle Quick comes in. We would taper paper over them and decorate however we wanted, then cut a slot in the lid.

In most places, hard plastic bottles with hard, screw on lids, such as laundry detergent, can be used as a sharps container. They still need to be labelled and handled as hazardous waste like any other sharps container, and must be disposed of appropriately (not in the regular trash or recycling).

My great grandmother had an assortment of cool whip, country crock, and similar containers filled with her crafting supplies. Assorted beads, pompoms, etc.

Tackle and tool boxes also work well for crafts, often cheaper too depending on what you need.

My daughter received a real Tiffany bracelet one Christmas. She loved the "Blue Box" they come in and used it to hold her dental retainer. Yes the retainer cost as much as a nice piece of jewelry!

I love to re use stuff for different purposes, makes me feel very imaginative (not really) and can always save you a few bob...

I like some of the ideas in this link, 2 near the top - wrapping paper rolls and the cleaning supplies stored in a shoe sorter bag.

Here is a link that might be useful: 99 Life Hacks

Thanks Kioni, I love that website.

Those clear zipper bags that sheets and other "soft" items come in are great for organizing/storing toys with small parts, or even games/puzzles if the box gets damaged. You can easily see what's contained in them but still pack in a toy box, closet, shelf. You can also store stuff under the bed in them w/o worrying about them getting dirty/dusty.

When you buy a cake or cookies, rotisserie chicken at the store, the plastic container is great to use again for the same thing, home made, or taking any cold food somewhere where you don't want to worry about getting the container back. I also find the containers McD's salads come in make great containers for giving people cookies, or taking any kind of not-hot food treat to my Gramma. If I was the type to start seeds, probably good for that too, you could put holes in the lid, or just leave it loose for the humidity thing.

Almost any plastic container can have holes poked in it to become a plant pot. I think it's just plain fun to have a plant who's name is "I can't believe it's not butter!" A pack of plastic cups or bowls is much less expensive than buying the same thing already called "pots."

i love to repurpose the containers to another use.... it saves your pennies and effort both!!