Save those egg cartons!

Don’t throw away your old egg cartons next time you’re finished with your dozen eggs! Instead, have fun with the kids and try some of these ideas to recycle or re-use the containers! Not only are these cartons great for organizing jewelry or desk items, they can be used to hold small round craft items when doing crafts or make a great Rock Collection holder! Egg cartons also work great for holding and protecting Christmas decorations.

Get creative and paint your carton to your liking or simply use it as a paint palette! You can also make a project out of it and use your carton as plant containers or seed starters and teach your little ones how to grow plants. Just poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Fill about 3/4 with potting soil and vermiculite. Plant seeds and set in a sunny window. Then have your children follow their growth and have them help you transplant and harvest when ready! It gets you all outdoors, spending quality time together, while teaching them about various plants.

Here are a few other great ideas. Share some of yours with us!

Make Tulips with Old Egg Cartons

This is an easy project kids can do by themselves or with very little help, and these flowers make a great Mother’s Day present. Or, make a bunch for a lovely Spring bouquet!

You will need:

• Clean cardboard egg cartons

• Scissors

• Green chenille (pipe cleaners)

• Elmer’s glue

• Paint

Instructions:

1. Cut the egg carton into separate cups, leaving some of the middle “pop-up” sections. Cut the main cups into the pointed shape of the tulip petals. With the point of the scissors or a sharp pencil, poke a hole in the bottom of each cup. Paint and decorate each cup however you like.

2. Cut the little center “pop-up” sections between the egg cups into small pointed shapes that will go beneath the tulip cups. Poke a hole in the center of each and paint green.

3. When the pieces are dry, poke a piece of green chenille through the holes. Tie a loop on the end in the cup so it can’t pull back out, and add a dab of glue between the two sections. Shape the chenille into leaf shapes and leave a few inches at the bottom for the stem.

4. You can stick the stems of several flowers into some clay or floral foam in the bottom of a pot. Or just tie together and wrap with pretty paper and a ribbon to give to mom!

Use some of the same materials to make some bug critter friends! Make legs and wings from pipe cleaners and use pompoms and googly eyes for their face and eyes. Look around the house and through your trash and recycle bins and get creative with your decorations.

What else can you do with recycled egg cartons? Share with Chipper!