The 7 Cleverest Ideas for Reusing K-Cups

There’s nothing like fresh herbs to enhance a meal, but most of us have trouble buying them in the right quantity to use up before they go bad. But a few used K-cups could solve that problem for you. Chop up your leftover herbs, pack them into a K-Cup and freeze. Bam — you’ve got a stockpile of fresh herby goodness to call upon whenever you’re in danger of a bland meal. You can also freeze chopped garlic this way to build yourself a time-saving stash.

Empty K-Cups can be used to corral small items that are hard to keep organized. Just line them up in your junk drawer, craft supply bin, sewing kit or other messy area to hold anything from safety pins to loose beads. Consider placing the K-Cups inside a shoe box or drawer organizer to keep them lined up neatly. Unlike plastic baggies or lidded cases, their open tops make it more likely that you’ll actually continue using them!

Whether it’s an unexpected snow day or a rainy summer afternoon, a stash of old K-Cups can keep your kids busy without you shelling out for pricey craft supplies. These are just a few ideas for things your kids can do with old K-Cups:

• Use them as building blocks.
• Turn them into mini bowling pins.
• Use them for a coin toss game.
• Make hats for their dolls or stuffed animals.
• Turn them into wheels for a shoe box car.
• Decorate them and string them together as a garland or oversized necklaces.
• Fill one cup with rice, dry beans or other small items, then tape a second on top to make an instrument.

If you buy dry goods, coffee or spices in bulk, empty K-Cups make handy scoops for these items. Tape or hot glue over the hole and you’re all set. Want a scoop with a handle? Just clamp on a clothes pin and hot glue it in place! Voila - thriftiest pantry hack ever.

By starting your plants indoors in the early spring, they’ll mature quicker once they’re in the ground — giving you more time to enjoy them. And your old K-Cups are the perfect size to act as seed starters. Simply fill them up with potting soil, plant your seeds and water regularly until your plants are big enough and the weather is right to transfer them to a pot or garden bed. You can even save some of the coffee grounds to add to the soil for a nutrient boost!

Used K-Cups are the perfect canvas for creating decorative strings of lights for the holidays, a child’s birthday party or just to jazz up an uninspiring room. Wrap each cup in colorful fabric or construction paper — embellished to your heart’s content — then slip the cups over the bulbs on a string of lights. LEDs are ideal for this project since they won’t heat up. You can even swap in differently decorated cups for different occasions!