I dislike grocery shopping, particularly in the wintertime. I get a head start during the summer. I watch for sales on staples. The more I buy now, the less I'll have to lug home in the sleet and snow.
I mix my own laundry concoction, and really like it. I use ½ of a popular laundry detergent and ½ of a non chlorine fabric whitener/brightener. Often these powders are lumpy when I first buy them, and even lumpier after being on the shelf for a while.
I measure equal amounts of these two into a plastic bucket, stir for a second, and then funnel the lot into clean and dried coffee creamer containers. I keep these filled containers in the laundry room, and at the kitchen sink, where I wash my dish towels in scalding water. (Tip within a tip: I don't use fabric softener on my dish towels. It tends to leave a film on glassware).
The lumps do not reform in these plastic containers. I can dispense a little through the pour spout or remove the lid to measure a cup or so. This idea may not be practical for large families, but for a small crew, it should work well.
Also, I stock up on wild bird seed. I transfer the contents of a 10 lb. bag of seed into these containers. When refilling my several feeders, it's much easier dispensing from these containers, rather than a 10 lb. bag. With a home made inner seal of foil, the seed will stay fresh and bug free.
I hope all of you creative people can help me out.
I have many of the big plastic canisters that powdered coffee creamer comes in. We drink A LOT of coffee around here! I'm reusing one to store sugar in. It's great because it has the spout on it for pouring. Other than that, what else could I use these containers for? I'm at a loss, and I hate to throw these canisters out. There's got to be other ways of reusing these. Thanks. and I'm looking forward to all of the creative ideas you have.
I save a lot of things to recycle and these containers are great for them, and they smell so good every time I open one. Use to collect change(let kids draw pics on them and use for banks), bottle caps, can tabs, marbles, nuts and screws in the garage, craft supplies, etc.
Keep some in the car for emergency pet food, change for the parking meters, pre-moistened wipes, sewing kits, eyeglass and fingernail repair parts, sugar free candies, energency candles and waterproof matches, or just about anything you need to keep protected from water and sun. In the kitchen, they are perfect for ice cubes in lunch boxes because they don't melt all over everything. When they do melt, you have nice cold water. They make nice spice containers but you have to be careful of no place for a shaker. Keep powdered things, pasta, or just about anything in them. They are just about perfect!
My daughter and I made this birdhouse to go with our collection! I also have used them to make snowmen and santas.
I like to reuse such containers myself but I am worried about putting food products in the plastic and wondering if it's safe or not. Some plastics are not safe for re-using for food. How do we know?
i like to keep a couple similar items by my brew station for cough drops & hard candy.
Because these 2 items (in particular) come in a plastic bag that usually gets torn I cut the label off them & tape them on the canister to ID it!
I'm using a Folger's plastic coffee can for coffee filters.... We don't use creamer so I don't know what those cannisters look like but as I've said before ...
Fill the canister with baking soda or Epsom salts to add to your bath water or foot bath. Looks lots nicer than having the box sitting out!
We use the really big economy sized creamer canisters, too. Up until now I'd only used them when cleaning out the fridge or throwing away cooking oil, anything messy that might leak in the garbage bag. I like your idea of storing sugar in one! Also would be good as a sand shaker when snow or ice is on the steps, or keep one full of sand in the car's trunk in winter, or use to shake fertilizer out around the garden in the summer, easier to hold whatever comes in a big bag and is hard to deal with.
Great tip! I recycle any containers like this also. I recently used one for the bathroom filled with laundry detergent as I find that to be the best cleaner for my bathroom over other cleaners. and it saves me money big time. Thanks for sharing.
Today's tip is that sometimes, you can still use something even though the lid is missing. I find these creamer bottles without the tops and replace them with juice container lids.
For my Kindergarten class at Sunday School, we made Santa toys out of Liquid Coffee Mate bottles. The white bottles have red caps that are shaped as Santa's hat.
I use lots of liquid creamer and have saved the bottles. I want to make a craft the children will enjoy.
By Gidget123 from OK
Empty non dairy creamer containers are perfect to use as drink bottles. The smaller ones are great for mixing and drinking from and the larger ones are the perfect size for the 1/2 gallon unsweetened drink mixes.
Does anyone have craft ideas for the larger Coffee-Mate containers with the powder creamer? It seems a waste to get rid of them.
By Michelle
I have stared using large coffee cream containers to store rice and other things. The opening makes it easier to pour into measuring cup.
I have tons of Coffee Mate liquid cream containers in three sizes: 32 oz, 64 oz (2 qt), and 16 oz. I think they would be great to make gifts for young and old.
Could you please suggest ideas and instructions for something easy and inexpensive? I guess I need to get started, the holidays are near. I also want to say thank you for accepting me. I am so excited to be a part of ThriftyFun. I am looking forward to a very long stay here. Blessings.
By Linda H
I take coffee-mate containers, the ones that are found in the dairy case, and use them for sugar dispensers.
