You may love your Keurig coffee machine. Morning coffee has never been so convenient. Instead of making a pot of coffee that ends up getting wasted and thrown out, you get just one cup of coffee. What’s more, the flavors are endless.
However, there’s one downfall. Those little K-Cups make a big mess. Every day, you’re filling your garbage with K-Cup waste. Instead of tossing these single-use cups, you can bring new life to them in a variety of ways. You can use K-Cups as craft projects, organizers, and even teaching tools. Grab your little cups and read on to get some inspiration for a fun project or simply a new way of using them.
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Holiday crafts
The circular shape of these cups makes them very useful in craft projects. You can use them to make lights, Advent calendars, snack holders, and ornaments. Place the K-Cups in a circular manner and you can create a wreath for Christmas or any time of year. Since the cups are white, you can decorate them as you please.
Threading craft
K-Cups make a great threading craft for toddlers. Grab some K-Cups and a shoelace or pipe cleaner. Have your child thread the shoelace or pipe cleaner through the holes to help develop motor skills.
Mobile
Grab some K-Cups and add a wire hanger to create a custom mobile. You can create animals or funny figures out of the cups or color or paint them.
Stamps
The shape of a K-Cup allows it to make a perfect circular stamp. The round shape is great for making funny faces, animals and more. Grab some paper and the sky’s the limit.
Paint cups
K-Cups have a puncture hole in the bottom, but you can fix that with tape or stickers. Cover up the hole and use these little cups as paint holder. Put a different color in each one. When you’re done, put the paint back in its original container, wash the K-Cup and reuse.
Playtime
Your daughter will find it fun to use K-Cups in her dollhouse. K-Cups can be used as laundry hampers, buckets and whatever else you can think of.
Gardening
Instead of taking from the environment, give back by using K-Cups to create life. The size of the K-Cups makes them perfect for starting out with a gardening project. Gardeners of all levels – even children – will love planting seeds and add soil to these little pods. Because the cups already have a hole in the bottom, they’re perfect for draining water. Just don’t let the plant get too overgrown. Be sure to transfer it into the ground outside once it matures.
Teaching tools
You can use K-Cups to teach preschoolers a variety of topics. These cups work well for money sorting activities. You can also use them to help your little one recognize colors. Your child can sort them by color or create patterns.
Sand toys
Bring a couple K-Cups to the beach. They’re great for scooping sand or creating custom features on a sand castle.
Bath toys
K-Cups make fun toys at bath time. Young children enjoy filling them up and dumping out the water.
Card holder
Playing cards is a fun game for young kids, but sometimes they may have trouble holding a bunch of cards. Solve this problem by cutting a slit into the bottom of a K-Cup. Insert the cards and voila!
Bowling game
You can use K-Cups to easily make a fun bowling game for the kiddos. Stack some K-Cups and try to knock them down by rolling a small ball or marble.
Blocks
K-Cups are stackable, just like blocks. They’re great for entertaining young children and you won’t have to spend any money on a fancy block set.
Organizers
Instead of splurging on fancy organizers from your office supply store, use K-Cups. You can label or decorate them and then add small items such as rubber bands, paper clips, thumb tacks, craft items, hair accessories and more. You’ll have everything kept together neatly.
Scoops
K-Cups make great scoops for sugar, flour, and other dry goods. They’re easier to use than spoons and measuring cups, so be sure to keep some inside the canister so they’re easily available.
Popsicles
Instead of splurging on frozen treats at the supermarket, you can easily make your own thanks to K-Cups. Plug up the hole and fill with liquid, like Kool-Aid, orange juice or lemonade. Add a Popsicle stick and place in the freezer. You’ll soon have a cool treat, perfect for the summer.
Frozen herbs
Parsley, cilantro, and other herbs go bad quickly. Prevent waste by freezing your herbs. Plug up the K-Cup hole with tape or hot glue. Next, chop up your herbs, place them in the K-Cups and add olive oil. When you want to add some flavoring to a pasta or meat dish, just pop out the herbs from the K-Cup and place it in the pan or pot for easy cooking.
Jell-O molds or shots
You can use these little cups to create Jell-O molds for kids and shots for the adults. Just make sure to plug up the little hole first with tape or glue.
With the average American generating more than four pounds of waste per day, landfills have enough waste to contend with. If you must use a Keurig coffee maker, do your part and help save the environment. Keep K-Cups out of the garbage and reuse them in your home for various purposes.
