Buckets-O-storage

Our family goes through buckets and buckets of ice-cream. Having birthdays and get togethers every month ensures an endless supply of buckets for me to use daily; it also forces me to find new ways to utilize them. This post is the first post in the "I have so many ice-cream buckets that I don't know what the heck to do with them" series.

Do your cupboards look like this?

. . .Then you need to find a way of utilizing all those ice-cream buckets instead of throwing them away. Here's a couple ways that I like to use these wonderful plastic pails.

First of all, I needed a way to get rid of the labeling on the outside of the bucket. One day when I was shopping at Walmart, I stopped by the paint section and saw that Krylon was changing out the labeling on their packaging so they had a buttload of their "plastics" paint on clearance (for more on paint for plastics, check out my "shopping spree:The paint aisle" post). I found this cute blue color that I thought I could use more than once. I'm not sure exactly how much I paid but I think it was like $2.00 or something. Awesome!

I put 2 coats of paint on the bucket. . .it covered like a dream! It was so pretty and it could've been used just like that (think those little buckets they sell at Walmart at Easter time).

You could now decorate it however you wanted: stickers, vinyl, markers, even more paint!

I actually wanted them for storage. . .cute storage. I came up with a lining for the bucket (similar to Mileka's makeup storage cans) utilizing old T-shirts (so I could spend as little as possible. Who doesn't have old t-shirts laying around!) Of course you could always use pretty fabric if you had some of that!

Here's how I did it!

Then. . . .here's the hard part to understand for those of you that has never done it.

Get it? Got it. Good!

If you did it right, your bucket (and lining) should now look like this!

It will look great on a shelf and help you with some of your storage needs.

Because I used what I had, this project cost me very little!

Ice-Cream Bucket: F-to the-R-E-E!!

Krylon Plastic Spraypaint: $2.00

Old T-shirt: FREE

 cloth-lined storage bucket=$2.00

Brandi-Lee

Organizing & Storage...I just CAN't get enough:)

I've been looking for a way to store my make-up.

Something simple...cute...easy....different...free.

and... it's a no sew project:)

TADA...

Organization!

Supplies:

• empty cans (beware of sharp edges)
• Spray paint (I used some of my left over Krylon)
• Old unwanted t-shirt
• Scissors
• safety pin

I spray painted an empty can.

I used some of my left over Krylon spray paint.

1.  Cut off the sleeve of a shirt

2. Cut off a small section from the sleeve (about 1/4 of an inch wide)

3. Stretch the small section to create a string & cut a slit in the hem of the sleeve

4. Attach the safety pin to the end of the t-shirt string and

thread it through the hole you cut in the hem of the sleeve.

Continue feeding it through the hem and bring it out at the other end.

Tie in a bow:)

It should look like this

5. Put the shirt on the open end of the can.

Adjust your bow tie if needed.

6. Tuck it in.

Finished product.

I repeated the process with a tuna can for smaller/shorter items.

(with no shirt embellishment)

I also used an empty baby food jar and an empty plastic container (that I had lying around),

to give it some variety and to fit different sized items.

I cut another strip off of the shirt and tied it around the tops to tie it in so it matches.

Now everything is nice and neat!

Just the way I like it!

Now I can find my make-up without having to dig in my drawer.

Unfortunately...so can others:p

my cost?

FREE

(I already had everything I needed)

happy face painting!

mileka:)