I’m going to start a weekly series called Tipsy Tuesdays where I (no, not blog while drunk) share a quick tip that will hopefully make your life easier.  These aren’t groundbreaking or anything new, but it never hurts to have a friendly reminder, and who knows, maybe you’ll see something you’ve never thought of before. :)

This week: upcyling your iPod packaging!

About a month or two ago, I was cleaning out my closet and I found these two plastic boxes from my iPod shuffle and Jackie’s iPod touch.  I’m not sure why I kept them all this time.  Probably I thought I could reuse them for something.  I mean, they’re just clear, plastic boxes.  The possibilities are endless.

This is the 2nd generation iPod shuffle and the 1st generation iPod touch.

 

The cardboard part is recyclable too!  But err, I can’t think of a way to repurpose this, so I threw it in the recycling bin. :P

Clear plastic box.  You could use this for anything small around the house: paper clips, safety pins, buttons, nuts and bolts, screws, etc.  For me, I’ve found that it fits Q-tips and cotton balls perfectly!

I leave this at my makeup station on my desk.  I used to have to walk to the bathroom or the kitchen to get either of these things, but now I can have a small stash of them with me.

One more thing: remember that plastic sheet?  Don’t toss that just yet.  I used it to divide my eyeliners.

See?  So I can keep my pencil shadows separated from my skinnier eyeliners so they don’t get all mixed up.

And FYI, an index card works just as well for this.  It’s not as… elegant? but it’s functional.

For the iPod touch packaging however, the plastic sheet isn’t flat.

This is printed on the box itself.  I’m pretty sure the plastic sheet is recyclable too, so that’s where it went, because I’m not crafty enough to figure out what to do with it.

This box is bigger, so right now I’m using it to store my travel-sized eyeliners.  However, it’s not the best solution, probably because I have just a tad too many eyeliners, so some liners end up on the bottom.  To be honest, I’m still not completely satisfied with my makeup storage, so I’ll keep adjusting and reorganizing until I figure out something I’m happy with.

Do you upcycle packaging?  Share some of your ideas and tips for office (or makeup) organization and the like, using stuff you already have!