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Before You Throw That
Away!
by Mia Cronan
All it takes is a little
creativity to use those things you might otherwise discard without a thought.
You know what they say…a penny saved is a penny earned.
How many times have you thrown something in the garbage
can, only to wonder if there was something else that could have been done with
it, but you didn’t have time to think it through at that moment? If you’ve
run into that situation, you might find some helpful hints in here to get you
thinking along those tracks.
Get creative with old
clothes:
If your kids have drawers full of old
t-shirts that no longer fit, or they’re torn, or they’re simply ready for
the rag bag, it may still be difficult for them to part with the sentimental
ones. Maybe it’s a t-shirt that has a favorite team logo on it. Or the shirt
might be from a team on which your child played. T-shirts with cute sayings,
fun pictures, or a commemorative phrase can be special and hard to part with,
too. If this is the case in your home, consider taking those shirts and making
a great gift for your child by cutting 12 inch by 12 inch squares out of them
where the logos are and making a quilt by sewing them all together. The quilt
can last a lifetime and bring back memories on a daily basis. Twenty of those
squares can be sewn together, with four-inch strips of neutral fabric creating
frames for each block, to make a four-block by five-block quilt. And we all
know how soft a t-shirt gets after several thousand washings!
Until a clothing dryer manufacturer comes up with a machine
that doesn’t eat socks, there are many things that can be done with the
orphans. If you have kids, you can sew buttons on the socks for eyes, and
embroider noses and mouths with yarn. Fashion a puppet stage from an old box,
using fabric scraps for curtains, and watch them have a great puppet show. They
also make good rags for cleaning hard-to-reach places, especially silver pieces
like candlesticks.
Plan for Christmas all year
long:
Christmas cards make great To/From
gift tags for the following year. Cut out the image on the front of the card
and put the information on the back. You can secure it by punching a hole in
the top and using a ribbon to attach it to the package.
Teach your children a little about charity. Old toys
don’t have to be tossed. If your child is involved in picking out some things
that he is willing to give up, put them in a box and go to a charity to give
them away. Your child will learn about those folks who have very little and the
joy of giving. It will also make way for all those new Christmas presents that
Santa left under your tree.
Use your trash for crafts
instead:
A fun, inexpensive way to enjoy old
catalogs and magazines is to use them for craft projects for your kids. If
you've got stacks of magazines that have to go, but you hate to just toss them,
have a little fun first! Have your kids cut out interesting pictures with
safety scissors, and use them for collages or even photo bingo! Using multiple
pictures of the same thing (i.e. dogs, houses, cars, etc...) you can make bingo
cards and have a keepsake game that the kids made themselves.
Creative uses for things from
your kitchen:
It might sound silly, but crumbs
from the bottom of snack bags make wonderful casserole toppings. Saute them
lightly in butter, and place them on top of a casserole during the last five to
ten minutes of baking time. Potato chips, corn chips, and even pretzels work
great for this.
Cardboard oatmeal boxes are wonderful containers for
small objects, such as toy blocks and building pieces. Or, in your tool shop,
they can hold paintbrushes and other tools. For a decorative touch, you might
use contact paper or paint it and decoupage it once the paint is dry.
Velveeta Cheese boxes make perfect drawer organizers.
They are the perfect size for pens, pencils, scissors, markers, etc. Or you can
use them in the refrigerator to hold the extra fast-food packets of ketchup and
mustard that you don’t want to throw away. In the pantry, they can hold the
packets of gravy mix and other sauces, to keep them organized.
If you prefer your bread soft and fresh and tend to toss
the bread that gets hard, consider this: Stale bread is great for French toast,
bread crumbs, and casseroles like strata. You can also make bread cubes,
seasoning them as you go, then store them in an airtight container. As a last
resort, make friends with your neighborhood birds by tossing it out the back
door!
Over-ripe bananas can be frozen and used later, if you
remove the peels first. They can be used in banana breads, muffins, and banana
milk shakes. Likewise, with apples, peel out the bad spots, cut them up, and
bake them with apple juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.
All it takes is a little creativity to use those things
you might otherwise discard without a thought. You know what they say…a penny
saved is a penny earned.
Related Articles:
A
Penny for my Thoughts
One mom's way
of teaching the kids how to handle money... don't wait too long!
Saving
Time Can Add Up to Financial Savings in a Big Way - Part 2
Combine
tasks for greater efficiency, and it can save you money.
"Not
Just Beans: 50 Years of Frugal Family Favorites.":
Book Review by
Crystal Dupay
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