Recycling Medicine Vials!

Recycling has always been one of my many quirky passions. I'm a rat and I don't really throw anything away- except when they're biodegradable and rotting to the heavens! A trip back to the hospital for volunteer work had me pumping out antibiotics and what-nots for the patients of my beloved ortho-surgical ward, and in the middle of those 8-hour shifts and the many rubber ports I had to disinfect, discontinue and inject, a bright brilliant, almost ---ok so I'm probably exaggerating by now---- But you do get the picture, right? I'm not known for being the neat and tidy type. I like seeing my things cluttered about in this sea of colors and age-old dust from my rickety cupboards and drawers. I like looking at them and knowing I'd have to bring them to some form of order someday, when I have the time. But who does have the time right?  In my entire crafting existence, I have accumulated quite a pile of beads, buttons, metal pendants, plastic amulets, sequins and shells. So I took some of these medicine vials home, submerged them in a bath of bleach, laundry soap and water and hoped for the best. 

 And because I did not explore scrubbing as a possible option, I simply left these guys in the bath for about 3 days. It's a good thing I did not totally forget about them. When I took them out, the medicine labels simply fell off, tada! I rinsed them and let them dry out for a while and then...

 Voila! My beaded glories in these little glass heavens!

 Aside from my beads, and seeds and sequins, I had lace trimmings, fabric scraps, old zippers and other usable sewing odds and ends, so I took some of these tin cans, ate all of the goodies inside and cleaned them up!

 And by the way, just so you know, I don't throw old books away too! I even buy old leather-bound books from the local library sale once in a while. Cheapness.

 I got some glue, tore out a page or two and made a mache for my tin biscuit container. I love how the yellowed edges pile up against each other! I did not need any paint or coffee stain for this one. The pages are authentically old. Authentically. hahaha

Turn your junk into spanking new tidy-up buddies! Or simply love the colorful clutters of life!