Creative Recycling: Leftover Prescription Medication

I know y'all have to be like me and clean out the medicine cabinet every once in a while. Usually I wind up chunking medications that have just sit there and expired because I hated to throw that half full bottle away. Well, I have just found out there is hope for some of it!

If you have any medication that you feel might be useful such as antibiotics, etc., call your local church and physician offices and see if they collect leftover medicines for mission trips to other countries. If they don't collect them, ask if they know another church or doctor's office that does. This is a great way to not waste good medicine and help those less fortunate in the process! Also, some offices may even take leftover medications for some of their own patients who are bound financially.

So next time you discover you will not use all of your prescription, call around and see if you can find it a new home. Who knows, you could save someone's life!

Creative Recycling: What to do with leftover/unwanted baby cereal

I'm sure many of us had kiddos that absolutely refused to eat baby cereal. My daughter was one of them. No matter what kind of cereal it was, or what I mixed it with, she would not eat it. I had about 3 full boxes and I wound up giving them away.

I saw this post today from calebs_mommy at Kizoodle, and I just had to share. I thought it was an awesome idea.

GREAT Idea...what to do with all that left over baby cereal

My son never ate this stuff...and I had tons of boxes of it. I
found a website called wholesomebabyfood.com that gives a great recipe for baby
cereal pancakes

These are whole wheat and delicious and so good for your
little one. You're able to use 2 cereals at once. I also used blueberries with
it instead of the banana. I've made them many times and will continue till all
of my baby cereal is gone.

Be sure to add the 1 tablespoon of baking
powder per 1 cup flour....it suggest this at the bottom of the page and is not
included in the recipe...but makes them fluffy and not that spongy texture.

ENjoy!! My son is 12 months and still loves them!!

Go to http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ and search for baby cereal pancakes. A big round of applause for calebs_mommy everyone!

The Next Generation of Dumpster Divers

Believe it or not, dumpster diving ain't (yes, I'm Southern :P) what it used to be. I don't know how I happened across a dumpster diving message board one day, but I decided to check out their "Finds" forum. Holy moly, was I surprised.

See, these people weren't DD at trash dumpsters you see on the roadside. They DD at store dumpsters. The stuff they find is unbelievable sometimes. I can't believe how wasteful our society is. The fact that America has so many in need, and to see perfectly good 'stuff' thrown out all for the sake of a buck, really saddens me.

However, I see the DD'ers as redeemers of sorts. LOL Rescuers in plain (and probably a little dirty from diving) clothing if you will. I'm not an expert on the subject...yet. Yes, I am planning to try out store DD very soon with a partner in crime that shall remain unidentified. I will definitely report our experience(s).

I'll leave you with a link to a site with lots of info and tips on getting started. Remember to check your local laws concerning DD. I will not be held responsible for your bail money. You dive at your own risk. ;o)

Mary, The Dumpster Lady

Creative Recycling: Medicine Cups

You know those little cups that come with your bottle of Nyquil or cough syrup? I found a good use for them.

If you have small kids the like to paint, these little cups make great paint holders. Just pour a little bit of color in each cup. Then, you don't have to worry about the whole bottle of paint being mixed with another color because lil Susie (or in our case lil Grace) didn't wash her brush first.

Here are a couple of action shots:






Have fun!

Creative Recycling: Crystal Light Containers

Over the years, it's become harder and harder for me to drink plain water. Therefore, to increase my water intake, I drink generic Crystal Light. I hated throwing them away because they were pretty sturdy little containers. Yes, you can use one for a pen and pencil holder but I didn't need one of those.

There are times I will think on something for weeks and finally, a rush of creative inspiration hits me and I wonder why so many brain cells had to die for this simple idea to be born. The idea that I came up with for my generic crystal light container, was to use it as a party favor holder instead of the traditional bags. You can decorate it to match the party's theme. You are limited to what favors you can put in it since the container is narrow. Just make sure to keep that in mind to avoid buying favors you won't be able to use.

I did one for an example and used some favors I had on hand. I went with a sports theme. I made a label for it and didn't decorate it further for sake of time. But you can paint it, decorate it with stickers, etc. It says, "Thanks for being a sport at Nathan's birthday party!". I made a slideshow with mine below.