Reusing Milk Jugs for Crafting

Reusing milk jugs is a great green crafting exercise. It really expands creativity to look at a common object and see it as a source to be used in making and crafting different objects.

To prepare plastic jugs for crafting, rinse and wash and drain them very well, making sure they dry thoroughly. Milk jugs are easier to cut into if they've been soaked in very hot water to soften them a little before cutting into them. I've found that my favorite ways to cut plastic jugs is with a serrated knife and a pair of heavy duty scissors.

Plastic jugs can be painted with paints meant for plastic, colored with permanent markers, and come in clear and white. Some that hold juice even come in orange. Decorations can be hot glued or taped on, and edges can be sealed with duct or masking tape to add trim.

Milk jugs can be made over into many different things, and are often used as the base for doorstops covered in fabric or crochet. Filled part way with sand or gravel, a milk jug is a great weight for holding doors open or closed.

Many different kinds of planters are made with milk jugs. One quick project is to cut the bottom of the jug off just under the handle, and add trim to the top edge, either by folding over colored duct tape, or gluing on ribbon. Poke small holes in the bottom of the jug for drainage, and fill with potting soil. This miniature garden can be planted with herbs, or other houseplants. Slip a shorter milk jug tray with a layer of gravel in it onto the bottom to catch the excess that drains out during watering and protect your surfaces.

Milk jug plastic can be used for a number of different crafts. It punches out pretty well with craft punches and adds an unexpected texture to scrapbook pages and crafted cards. It can be cut into a number of different shapes, punched along the edges and sewed or crocheted together to make wallets, folders, sun hats, boxes, ext.

The plastic from a milk jug is ideal for many crafts when stiffening is called for. It can be used in wrist pin cushions to protect the skin from needle points. Put into the brims of knitted or crocheted hats for stiffening them. It is ideal for stiffening parts of any stuffed project, like bunny ears, or the bottoms of sitting animals. Plastic from milk jugs is ideal when sewing fabric baskets or boxes, to lend weight to bottoms and sides.

A cute gift basket can be made from the bottom of a milk carton that is cut along the top into large scallops, punched with a hole punch every ½ inch or so, and whip stitched with pretty yarn, or crocheted with a pretty edging. The handle for this basket can be made from a wire hanger, or a strip of plastic from another jug, or a piece of wide ribbon tied into pretty bows at the sides.

There are so many crafts that can be done with empty plastic milk jugs, that it is worth saving them and having a few of them around at all times, just to be ready when crafting inspiration strikes!