Upcycle An Empty Plastic Container Into Cute Storage For A More Organized Bathroom

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Corral countertop clutter with a charming eco-friendly bathroom project that takes advantage of a durable plastic container. There are more contenders around your home for a plastic repurposing project than you realize. Food storage containers with misplaced lids, tubs or buckets from ice cream, the bottom half of a hefty detergent bottle, and more have too much potential to go into the bin. Wooden detailing made from clothes pin halves gives the plastic container a country basket look, and a cloth liner and decorative jute finish it off with charm.

For this creative way to upcycle plastic containers, you'll need a sturdy one that's between 4 to 6 inches high, jute twine, scissors, a tape measure, a glue gun and a reliable crafting adhesive like Gorilla Hot Glue Sticks, a large scrap of fabric, and a pack of wooden spring-action clothes pins. The piece of fabric should be large enough to line the inner sides, the top inch or so of the outer edge, and the inner base of the container (repurpose old clothing as a liner for further savings of both planet and money). Also, use clothes pins that are at least 1 inch shorter than the sides of your container.

If your container has a thick rim you don't want to keep, begin by cutting it off. Depending on the plastic's thickness, you may be able to do this with a utility knife or scissors. For heavy-duty plastic like detergent bottles, a rotary tool blade or a hot soldering iron may be your best bet.

Measure and cut a fabric piece as wide as the container's circumference plus an extra 1 to 1½ inch. For the fabric's other angle, measure the container's depth and add about 4 inches to that. If you plan to glue the cloth in place, also trace the base of the container onto either a piece of corrugated cardboard or a piece of repurposed plastic. Cut out that shape, and place it atop another section of the fabric. Mark a 1½ inch margin of extra fabric around the shape, and cut it out.

Prepare the liner by gluing one cut edge of the fabric right side-out about 2 to 3 inches beneath the outer edge of the container; the remainder of the fabric should extend above the container's mouth. As you close the circle, fold the raw edge of the remaining fabric for a rough seam, and glue it to the container. Press the fabric into the container and secure it with glue. Set the cardboard or plastic cutout on top of the fabric you traced, cut 1- to 2-inch tabs into the excess fabric around the shape, and glue them one at a time onto the cutout, smoothing out wrinkles as you go. Slip the cloth-covered cutout finished side-up inside the container.

Separate the two halves of your clothes pins. If you hang-dry your laundry, you probably have a collection of clothespin halves already hanging around. You can use these instead, but make sure that they're all the same length. Glue the clothes pin halves vertically to the container's exterior. Orient them so that you're gluing their flattest sides to the container, thickest end up and thinnest end flush with the container's base. There should also be at least 1 inch of fabric showing between the wood pieces and the mouth of the container. Continue, one piece next to another, until you've converted the container's sides with clothespin halves.

Snip a piece of jute twine that's long enough to encircle the container and make a small bow. The twine will rest in the clothes pins' indents where the springs sat. Dab a bit of glue around the ridge of indents, and tie the twine in place with a bow. If you want, top the bow's knot with a glued-on accent like a button and/or glue another loop of twine around the cloth-covered mouth of the container.  Give the container's raw-looking base a glued trim of three or four coils of twine. Now, it's more than ready to store washcloths and hand towels, errant toiletries, and even dress up a couple of surplus toilet paper rolls in your bathroom.