I Repurpose Things Too!

I’ve noticed that everyone seems to be bragging about the stuff that they have made a second use for and there’s quite a few things that I can tell you about myself.

Years ago we used to have a wood stove and hanging beside it was a metal holder that you could just slip a bigger box of wooden matches and they would feed out the bottom scoop. Well, nobody uses wooden matches anymore, but I still use that match holder for in the bathroom. Only now it has cotton swabs in it.

The other day I baked a nice chocolate cake and my granddaughter was delighted to see what I used to do some decorating on it - a washed out mustard container with the pointy tip. I fill it with my icing and I can write letters or make flowers. I actually have several bottles and lids that I have adapted by cutting the points in different ways. If I really want to get fancy, I can put different colours of icing in each bottle and make my own work of art.

When I get clothes that have buttons on them, the first thing I do is dab the threads in the middle of the button with clear nail polish. That keeps the threads from unravelling and the buttons falling off. If I have to sew on a button, there’s nothing better than dental floss for strength. If I don’t have dental floss, I can still sew on a button in a jiffy by taking a long thread and doubling it, then quadrupling it to push through the eye of the needle. Once through the needle, you actually have 8 strands of thread so you only need to go through the holes in the buttons a couple of times to have a really strong hold. Then tie your knot and dab some clear nail polish on the top and bottom and that button will never come off again. 

For years we’ve kept our toothpicks in an empty spice bottle and snap the plastic shaker lid back on. When you need a toothpick you can just shake one out without touching all the other toothpicks in the bottle.

I’ve got a dozen washed out tuna cans that I use to bake mini casseroles in, or even little individual cakes. A tuna can will fit a slice of pineapple and then you can pour on some white cake batter to make a great personal-size pineapple upside down cake. Tuna cans can also be used to bake individual quiches.

I make reusable hamburger separating discs for freezing by cutting plastic milk carton jugs in rounds. I premix my hamburger, make patties and then put a disc in between them to freeze so when it’s time to cook them, I can take out just as many as I need at one time. The discs wash up fine in the dishwasher and I can reuse them the next time I’m making my homemade hamburger patties. That’s just a few of the repurposing ideas that I’ve used!