5 thrifty craft tips

Eleanor Douglas-Meyers is a crafty mom from Uitenhage who writes about DIY, parenting, natural hair care, fashion, food and fun on her blog

I don’t like throwing things away, some say thrifty, some say hoarder I say environmentally conscious. I honestly like to get the full use out of things and thought I’d share some tips:

• Small plastic containers that have lost their lids: I use them inside bigger lunch tins for a bento box effect. This way you can pack lunches in one container and the little lid-less containers then keep different foods apart. It keeps the sweet from touching the savoury and so on and so forth.

• Those small flat plastic spoons you get with ice-cream or frozen yogurt: I keep these and put them in Aidan’s lunch for school or when he is running errands with me, it’s ideal for spreads and the “I can do it stage” he is currently in. He loves spreading cheese spread or cream cheese blocks on crackers and this way I don’t have to worry about him hurting himself with a knife.

• Left-over desiccated coconut: If you have coconut left over from a baking project you can turn it into coconut milk ... seriously. Just put coconut in blender and cover with warm water. Blend on high for several minutes until thick and creamy. Pour through a mesh colander then through a cheesecloth or nut bag and there you have coconut milk for yummy smoothies.

• Expired legumes, pasta and rice: I know I’m not the only one who will come across a container of something like lentils of macaroni and be like, “hmmmm I don’t think I should feed this to my family seeing as it’s not 2011 anymore” (oh just me?). Well if you ever find yourself in this predicament why not pull out some white craft glue and let your toddler go wild (within the confines of a covered table or floor) you can also paint the macaroni and string it into fun necklaces.

Glass jars: I love coffee :) But what to do with the glass jars? Step one, salvage from husband who thinks you are a hoarder; Step two, clean and remove sticker, Step three, consider spray painting lid like on pinterest but decide no thanks; Step four, fill with biscuits for an instant cookie jar; Step five, get your tall husband to put it out of your reach; Step six, grab a chair ;)

• A little tip: to get those stickers off the bottle soak bottles in warm soapy water for 30 minutes – this will save you a lot of scrubbing.

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