Awesome Ways to Reuse Plastic Fruit Containers

Summer is the season for wonderful fruit and accumulating plastic fruit containers. Or is it just in my house there is a stack of #1 clam shell containers just waiting to be put to good use?  Sure you could just put them in the recycle bin, but these nifty little containers are actually pretty useful.

I am not talking about the green baskets like this one we used for our May Day baskets:

And I do not mean the harder #6 plastic containers (usually from the grocery store bakery or take out containers). Those are perfect for making homemade shrinky dinks. The ones that hold berries and cherry tomatoes tend to be #1 plastic which will not work for that.

Better than a paper bag for field trip lunches.

Hey, they are designed to keep delicate fruit from bruising so they are perfect for keeping lunches safe when they are crammed into a box to tote on the field trip.  Brilliant idea from Mommables

Store "stuff" in them

The chances of me getting my son to organize his gazillion Legos into 5-10 of these like You Modern Dad does, isn't going to happen. But a mom can dream, right? Plus, I would have to cover the bottom so the itty bitty pieces don't slip through the holes.

I love this idea from Sew Many Ways for ribbon or yarn storage (thread the end of the ribbon out the holes at the bottom).

 

Pretty them up, then store "stuff in them"

Decoupaged Drawer Organizers from Dollar Store Crafts

Kaleidoscope Berry Box from Aunt Peaches

Pretty them up, then give them as gifts

from Secrets of a Super Mommy

from Notes of Sincerity

from Tinkered Treasures

I couldn't find a blog to credit this one, but it's a great idea for Back to School, holidays or Teacher Appreciation Week.

Use them in the garden

Is plastic safe to plant in without leaching harmful chemicals into your healthy food?

This graphic came from Linn Acres Farm and it is something to think about before growing edibles in plastic.

The berry containers are #1, so you can use them to grow seedlings in them like:

Homesteading.com and

Momma Owls Lab

Or use them to protect your plants like Root Simple:

I covered my new transplants with them in early spring when the weather here can be windy and break tender seedlings. It also protected them from being dug up by the neighbor's cat that thought my raised beds were a giant litter box.

Let the kid(s) craft with them

Unfortunately this site is no longer up, but you get the idea for making a pretty sun catcher:

Or you could make a treasure chest like The Classroom Creative

The one I am saving them for:

Halloween

and/or Christmas

Do you have any other creative ideas to make or do with plastic berry containers? Let me know in the comments below.