Trash to Treasure

I have a few things I collect.

Toilet Paper and Paper Towel Tubes

Egg Cartons

Baby Food Jars (when I had kids that ate it)

Small Boxes

Paper Scraps

Packing Peanuts

Random Plastic Containers

And more.

It sounds so romantic doesn't it. Boxes of random "trash." It is not trash though. It can be used. I don't consider myself the most crafty person, I just taught preschool so I learned that these practical everyday items could come in handy. And when they don't come in handy for me, I can donate them to a preschool teacher or elementary school who could use them.

My most resourceful of these collections recently has been my egg carton collection.

We used one for this.

We started some flower seeds in it. In a week or two we will transplant them into the ground when they are ready for the world and the wind and weather has a lower risk of killing them.

My most favorite thing we have done recently is this.

A flower bouquet.

It is a Mothers Day Gift to send to Grandma from the Kids. My kids loved painting these. It was a fun project and now, grandma gets a box of flowers and a bouquet for her table. In case you are interested, here is how it was done.

I cut up the egg carton and shaped them into somewhat of a flower shape.

We then painted a base color on the flowers and my children embellished them with there own painting style.

I then cut Tissue Paper into squares and poked the tissue paper and egg carton through a pipe cleaner. I twisted the top of the pipe cleaner to hold them tight.

Now Grandma has a cute decoration that will remind her of her cute Grandkids. If you needed a last minute idea, here you go, quick and easy.

So go on and collect your useful trash. Use it or donate it to someone who will. The earth might just thank you.