Re-cycle, re-use.

Two re-cycled, re-used, "found" objects this week. I hate to throw cute things away, especially if I think I can re-use them for something else.

First... my sister sent me a new kind of tea for my birthday (or was that for Christmas?-- I don't remember just now). The tea comes in little cone-shaped packets. The brand name of the tea is "Tea Forte," and the flavor she sent was "Flora." Delicious tea... so good that I used each silken pouch twice and it made a strong cup of tea both times.

But.... what to do with that cute little paper cone-shaped pouch that it came in... I just couldn't throw them away, so I saved them. And before I threw away the twice-used teabags, I cut off the little green silk leaf and stem attached to the top of the silk pouch. I used those green leaves in some of the cards that I made recently.

I was putting the gift bags together for the St. Patty's Day lunch, and I thought of those cone-shaped pouches from the teabags. They were the perfect size for cute little candy-holders, so I filled them with green M&Ms, sealed them back up, and made little "M&M" labels for each. I wrapped those up in clear cellophane and tied each with green ribbon. Cutest little things, I swear.

That tea is all gone now, so I'll have to buy more of it and start saving the little pouches for jelly beans at Easter time. And candy corn at Halloween? Sugar hearts for next Valentine's Day? The possibilities are endless.

The second thing... I've been buying grape tomatoes in little plastic containers. The brand name of those is "Nature Sweet Cherubs"-- the top of the container is clear plastic, the bottom is bright yellow. Very cute, and I knew I could use those but I didn't think of something till the other day. Individual Easter baskets! I've already filled up half a dozen of them with green Easter grass, and when we have our Easter lunch or dinner party, I will add jelly beans and chocolate eggs and whatever other kind of Easter goodie we have. The top of those little containers has a paper label which peels off and goes back on very easily. I'm thinking that I can use wrapping paper with a Spring design to cover up the tomato label, then I can put name tags on them and use those instead of place cards at the dinner table.

I was so happy with those little plastic containers... the green Easter grass was perfect, but they'd look just as good with any other color. I'm thinking that if I cover the yellow bottoms of those with different holiday wrapping paper or decorated tissue paper, I can use them for just about any holiday party we have. It's just satisfying to know that some things can be re-cycled and not just tossed into the ever-growing land-fills.