Ways To Use Old Prescription Bottles

Before reusing any empty prescription bottle in anyway take off the labels, so no one has access to your personal information and then clean and sanitize the bottles thoroughly.

I am on several different medications and was looking for ways to use reuse empty bottles  rather than toss them in the recycle bin....here are a few ideas I found from creative people who were kind enough to take their time to post and share...o them I say:  Thank You!

STORAGE

1. Store seeds inside the bottles and then label the bottles according to the seeds they hold. Seeds that need to be kept cold can easily be placed inside the fridge in these bottles.

2. Glue several bottles next to each other and use the glued collection on your desk as a storage system for all your tiny things: rubber bands, paper clips, hair pins, needles, nails, bolts, screws, matches, etc. Or just place some fresh flowers inside to brighten up your office.

3. If you need a coin holder to place in your purse or your car, place your loose change in the prescription bottles. No more looking everywhere for change especially if you need to pay the toll.

DONATION
4. Donate your empty prescription bottles to your local vet, animal shelters, Some places will take prescription bottles and reuse them to fill prescriptions for the animals.

5. Personally I use them to store loose beads for jewelry making

6. Homeless shelters sometimes take empty prescription bottles. Call your local homeless shelter to find out if they do.

PETS
7. Makes a nice rattle/toy for cats (not babies). Put some dried beans inside and close it tight. Then let them play.

ART
8. If you like to paint decorative pieces and buy paint in large sizes to save money you can transfer some paint to these small containers to work on one or two projects at a time without using up all the paint or letting it dry up.

Note: I have read in several places that it is not wise to use prescription bottles for any kind of food storage due to the residue that some prescriptions leave behind so please use caution if you decide to use any of the food storage tips below.

9. Here is an early valentine gift idea that involves reusing brown prescription bottles. Susan from Houston, TX fills hers up with chocolate kisses, relabels them “Rx for a Happy Valentine’s Day, lots of hugs and kisses!” and then gives them to the people she loves.
Caution: Putting candy in a prescription bottle can confuse a child. Please be careful about where you place these reused prescription bottles and your real ones. Children can’t tell the difference between one and the other.

10.WARNING: First clean & soak with hot soapy water very, very well !!!!  Turn prescription bottles into saltshakers. Paint the bottles or leave as is. Poke tiny holes in the caps then fill them with salt or pepper and use them as saltshakers. 11. If you pack salad for lunch a prescription bottle is a tiny storage place to store some salad dressing.    <--- First clean & soak with hot soapy water very, very well !!!!


EMERGENCY
12. You never know when your clothes will rip or you’ll loose a button. A Mini Sewing kits would come in handy in a case like this. Some prescription bottles are big enough to store some needles and thread and maybe more.

13. A tiny emergency kit for a cut or scrape can fit in a prescription bottle: band-aids, cotton balls, q-tips and some tiny alcohol wipes.

14. Use to neatly store plastic bags in your purse in case you suddenly need a plastic bag, say during a car ride with someone that tends to get motion sickness

CRAFTS
15. Store thread spools in prescription bottles to prevent it from tangling. See how here.

16. Melt them and make them into jewelry. This is supposed to be a fun kids craft. For instructions on how to melt certain types of prescriptions bottles go here.

Note: I do not know what kind of pollution this release in the air. For less air pollution maybe they can just be cut into pieces.

17. Store buttons, beads and other small craft items in these bottles.

18. Make a Snowman Christmas Ornament out of a prescription bottle. For directions go here. <---Really cute.


***REMEMBER***
Wash well  AND SOAK WITH HOT SOAPY WATER your empty ALL  Prescription bottles before they are reused.

50 Great Uses For Mason Jars

50 Great Uses for Mason Jars | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

I love Mason jars , I love the way the look, the way they feel.  I collect them......okay, okay so I'm a bit eccentric. Any way, I did a web search for ways to use Mason Jars to justify my obsession.  Here what I found.

Shalom,
Patty

Mason jars are amazingly versatile, even if you never use one to hold preserved garden produce.
Some mason jars can even be used in the freezer (these are usually marked “freezer jars” or freezer safe). When used in the pantry, the jars allow you to store foods safely. Living in an old house on acreage means that we are blessed with an abundance of mice if food is not stored carefully. The glass jars are impervious to chewing and gnawing and they don’t allow foods to absorb odors from other foods. You can store onions and confectioner’s sugar next to each other without the sugar taking on an onion flavor.
Uses for Mason Jars
1. Canning foods for storage
2. Storing dried foods
3. Storing sugar, flour, and oatmeal
4. Storing cookies
5. Storing bulk foods
6. Storing homemade mixes
7. Recipe in a jar gifts
8. Making and storing homemade vinegar
9. Making vanilla extract
10. Storing leftovers in the refrigerator
11. Use as measuring device
12. Store saved seeds
13. Grow sprouts
14. Drinking glass
15. Hold homemade soy candles
16. Holding sour dough starters
17. Storing fresh milk if you milk your own goats or cows
18. Storing your clearly marked cleaners
19. Cotton balls
20. Bulk or homemade shampoo
21. Bath salts
22. Holding Legos and other small toys
23. Storing small office supplies
24. Bolt the lids (with screw tops) to the underside of a shelf and use to hold screws, nails, and washers
25. Hold balls of yarn while knitting or crocheting…drill a hole through the lid and thread the yarn through. Make sure it is smooth so it doesn’t cut the fiber. Keeps your yarn from rolling off.
26. Make a solar light
27. Make sun tea
28. Use them to hold fresh flowers
29. Reusable holders for candy gifts
30. Portable Garden Cloche
31. Store sewing notions
32. (Mostly) Homemade soap dispenser
34. Bug jars for the kids
35. Keeping change
36. Make a terrarium
37. Catch those pesky flies
38. Here is an easier version of the homemade fly trap. Just put equal amounts of sugar, vinegar, and water in a quart Mason jar. Punch holes in the lid that are large enough for flies to get through.
39. Sewing kit in a jar
40. I love these individual silverware and napkin holders
41. Poultry feeder
42. Mason jar photo frames
43. Potpourri jars
44. Snow globes
45. Add nonflammable material and nestle a candle in it to use as a centerpiece. I used cranberries to hold votive candles in pint jars last Christmas and they were fantastic.
46. Meditation jar - print out your favorite quotes, thoughts, or scripture verses and cut them in strips. Keep them in the jar and remove one a day to contemplate. You can use this for affirmations, journal prompts, or anything similar.
47. Holding scrapbooking and craft supplies
48. Pencil and pen holder
49. Hold shells and other collections for display
50. Cakes in a jar
Where to Find Mason Jars
You can buy Mason jars in almost any store but there are other ways to get them that are less expensive. Many times you can advertise on Craigslist that you are looking for canning jars and someone who is no longer canning will offer them to you. Other ways to acquire them are:

• Check with relatives
• eBay
• Garage sales
• Thrift shops
• Classified ads

Always check them for cracks and chips. If the rims have chips or cracks they can not be used for canning. How else do you use mason jars? Please share below.

Revamp Old Furniture Instead of Replacing

Revamp Old Furniture Instead of Replacing posted by Melissa Breyer Jun 12, 2009 9:00 am filed under: Healthy Home, Household Hints, Reduce, Recycle & Reuse, decoupage, furniture, mosaic, paint, staining furniture Revamp Old Furniture Instead of Replacing by Becky Striepe, We’ve all got pieces of furniture that look like they’re on the way out. When I first moved to Atlanta, a friend gave me a coffee table. I had no money and very little furniture, so I was grateful even though the table was sort of…well…it was ugly, alright? It was an ugly, ugly table. Rather than pitch it, I decided to give it a fresh coat of white paint and try my hand at a mosaic. We still have that little coffee table living out on the front porch! It’s a little bit dusty at the moment, but I’ll show you a picture if you promise not to judge my housekeeping skills: Even though it’s a little bit worn now and the colors have faded from sitting in the sun, I love that little table like no other. I can’t look at it without thinking about the time spent carefully laying out the pattern until the design was just how I wanted it and the rewarding process of painting the wood and laying the tile. What started as an ugly hand-me-down is now a treasured piece! Here are a few options if you’re looking to do your own furniture revamp! Picture & Full Article Here Mosaic If you’re trying to spruce something up that can support a little bit of weight, mosaic might be a good option! Not only can you salvage a scratched tabletop, you can divert some trash from the waste stream while you’re at it! You might cover your project with recycled glass, old bottlecaps, or broken ceramics or tiles that would have headed for the landfill. Check out this tutorial from eHow for mosaic instructions. Decoupage Mosaic is a little bit labor-intensive and requires a whole lot of materials. If you’re looking for something a bit simpler, decoupage might be what you’re after! You can even decoupage fabric onto a worn out chair to give it a whole new life! What a great chance to raid your scrap bin! For some more decoupage inspiration check out this post over at Ikea Hacker. They show a lovely combination of paint and decoupage and a beautiful table decoupaged with paint chips. Here are some helpful decoupage instructions from Gothic Martha Stewart. Paints and Stains Whether you want to simply change the color of your piece or add a fancypants design, there are a bunch of great options out there! Check out these vibrant stains that Lenore used to spruce up an old dresser. If paint is more your speed, hunt down a low- or no-VOC variety. Jessica Gottlieb has a few eco-friendly paint options over at Eco Child’s Play. For some tips on painting furniture, This Young House has you covered! Fabrics If you’re sewing-inclined, you might consider recovering or slip covering an old piece. An old table or trunk can look brand new if you put together a fitted slip cover for it. Feeling really ambitious? You might try recovering the whole piece, like the famous IKEA chair revamp by Minouette. For a simpler, no-sew recovering option, check this video from ReadyMade on reupholstering a dining room chair. You can keep this eco-friendly by using a low-VOC spray adhesive, like this one from 3M: