Creative Ways To Upcycle Teabags And Tea Boxes Around Your Home

Whether you are a chai tea latte fan, partial to the southern icy blends, or fancy sipping Earl Grey to manifest your teatime dreams at Downton Abbey, there's no denying that tea is one of the most popular beverages in America (it's also the most-consumed beverage in the world, second only to water). Unfortunately, this also means a large quantity of single-use tea bags and boxes are tossed out daily, contributing to the total waste generated. Plus, they contain non-biodegradable components like plastic, putting unwarranted strain on the environment. The good news is there are multiple ways you can repurpose used tea bags around your home to keep them out of landfills and incineration centers.

Besides, upcycling the bags and boxes is good for your pockets, too. Just imagine turning the bags into warm tone lanterns or the boxes into functional organizers, saving a considerable sum on both. The bags could also double as pages in your junk journal. The possibilities are endless. You just need to ensure they're clean and ready for the next chapter in their life. Ready to put your trash to good use? Here are 10 creative ways to upcycle tea bags and boxes around your home.

A great way to reuse old tea bags is to make beautiful bespoke lanterns for your home. You just need to gently open up a few tea bags — one lantern requires eight of them. You'll also need a square-shaped cardboard, some Mod Podge, and four dowels for each lantern. Regarding the design, add a few pressed flowers, leaves, and taxidermied insects for a nature-inspired look or go with craft paper cutouts to bring your imagination to life. Remember to only use battery-operated lights, since dry bags are combustible and might catch fire in close proximity to an open flame.

Looking for creative ways to use your pressed flowers for decor? Simply grab a few used tea bags and clean them to immortalize your pressed flower and foliage collection. You'll also need some Mod Podge to keep the blooms in place. Once the pressed flower tea bag creation is completely dry, slide it in an old photo frame to display it around your home. You could even glue a piece of ribbon or twine to the back and hang the translucent bags to spruce up a blank wall.

Instead of throwing away your paper or cardboard tea boxes, turn them into autumnal decor. To DIY your preferred centerpiece, you'll need a pencil, a sharp craft (or X-Acto) knife, a couple of tissue papers, a little Mod Podge, your trusty glue gun, and some paint. Decorate the finished product with tiny pumpkins, acorns, pinecones, faux fall leaves, and mini skeletons to let this fall living room decor idea transform your space. Don't forget to weigh it down with faux decorative pebbles to keep it in place.

If you maintain a flower journal and have a few blank pages, get a used tea bag to craft lifelike lavender stems on a budget. While time-consuming, the DIY is incredibly simple. The trick lies in choosing the right color of alcohol ink pen and using it judiciously. You'll need some floral wire (Dollar Tree sells 100-feet coils) to twist the colored tea bag around. After the stems are ready, glue your faux lavender stems in your journal. You could also use longer wires and two or more colored bags to use the stems in your artificial flower arrangements.

If you have always fantasized about owning dedicated bookmarks for each book you own, upcycle your used tea bags to get them for free. But first you must dump out the wet tea leaves. The easiest way is to cut open the bottom portion, remove the leaves, and let the bags air dry completely to keep mold and mildew at bay. Once the bag is dry to the touch, seal the open bottom with glue. Then, color your favorite designs on the bag to DIY bookmarks based on your preference or a book's premise.

You can never have enough storage solutions. In case you're in need of new ones to organize your arts and crafts supplies, save your hard earned money and craft a few using leftover tea boxes. A fresh coat of acrylic paint and a few decor items will transform them in no time. You could even use contact paper and faux glass sheets to make the sturdy boxes look high-end. However, keep them away from moisture, since paperboard or cardboard tea boxes aren't usually water-resistant.

Unlike their disposable counterparts, wooden tea boxes are pretty, sturdy, and durable by nature. So, instead of tossing them out, turn them into functional organizers to get your money's worth. Start by trying this foolproof way to remove sticky labels from the surface. Then, get some contact paper, glue, and paint to transform the simple wooden box into a fancy organizer. Now, use it to house multiple items, including your jewelry, remotes, snack-sized food packets, tea bags, documents, or small trinkets.

The photo is as important as frame placement when designing a gallery wall to nail the vintage decor aesthetic. So, if you don't want basic black-and-white pictures staring back at you, distress and dress your old pictures to match your preferences. Use aged newspapers, pressed flowers, and old signs to lend your black-and-whites some character. To preserve and distress the pictures, buy clear distress collage mediums, such as Tim Holtz's Matte Gel. This will also help glue and seal the pictures, so they look worn and aged. House them in appropriate frames and then display them around your home.

Wooden tea boxes with glued dividers might seem difficult to upcycle, but they're ideal for storing small items, like crystals and jewelry. You can use the boxes as is or enhance their appeal per your preferences. Begin by lightly sanding and priming the surface before applying paint. Now, for this DIY's highlight: customizing the boxes. If you're a fairly good artist, draw and paint the graphics you like. However, if you'd rather not risk looking at a crooked sun, buy a transfer sticker (or personalize one) and add it to the top.

A coffee and water spray is a simple way to give your paper lanterns a vintage look without any paint. But if you don't want to waste a perfectly good cup of joe, substitute it with tea. Just steep a couple of bags in a cup of hot water, and use the tea to add warmer tones to your paper lantern. Since you'll be reusing your tea bags, one or two won't be enough. However, the actual number will depend on the type of tea you're using and how pigmented you want the color to be. Once you're happy with the shade, simply give your lantern one or two coats, using the tea as paint.