Recycled Craft

Earth Day was yesterday, and hopefully you were inspired to find ways to incorporate recycling and upcycling into your crafting.  As a frugal crafter, I’m always looking for ways to turn my unwanted items into something useful.  Here’s an idea for turning grocery store plastic containers into fun, functional drawer organizers!

Recycled Drawer Organizer

Project estimate:

  • Plastic produce or take out containers, on hand
  • Newspaper, on hand
  • Glue, on hand
  • Paint, on hand

Total:  FREE

supplies

To make your own recycled drawer organizers:

Step one:  Cut to separate the lid from the body of the plastic container.  You can use both pieces if they fit your needs.

Step two:  Tear newspaper into small strips.  I used some Japanese newspaper that came with a package I had received.

step1

Step three:  Apply glue to the bottom of the container, lay a strip of newspaper on top, and cover the strip with more glue.  I used DecouPage for my project, but you could use any glue on hand, or make a paper mache paste.

step2

Step four:  Continue to cover the container with layers of glue and newspaper until the plastic is covered.  Let it dry.

step3

Step five:  Paint the inside of the container, just to give it some color and make it look more hip.

step4

I plan to make several of these in different sizes to fill my kitchen drawers with.  No more digging around for pens, scissors, and other supplies.  I can get organized, craft, AND recycle, all at the same time.  Win!

DIY Drawer Organizer