# old medicine bottles



## circak (Sep 16, 2014)

What ideas do we have for using old medicine bottles?


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## mac.worrall (Jun 24, 2011)

Fill with coloured water and put in a window:but not where bright sunlight could be concentrated through them to make a fire hazard [seldom a problem in Scotland].


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## annweb (Feb 23, 2012)

You mean there are days when it Might happen up there ? Lol


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## mac.worrall (Jun 24, 2011)

annweb said:


> You mean there are days when it Might happen up there ? Lol


I used to live in Glossop and believe me the weather is better here.


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## cainchar (Dec 14, 2012)

Oh- I've been in Scotland on such days. It makes the rest of the world pale and dull indeed! There is something about Scotland that no amount of dull drizzle can ruin, but when the sun comes out, it's magic (and all the more precious for it's being a rare event.) ;-)


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## yourmother306 (Nov 30, 2011)

The small plastic bottles of prescription meds from Walgreens? Almost similar to the little black film canisters?

When my son was in third grade, they used them to make volcanoes.

I usually just recycle them if they are a #1 or #2.


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## yourmother306 (Nov 30, 2011)

EUREKA 
http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/daily-green-tips/recycle-prescription/

I'm going to do some of these ideas, awesome


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## mac.worrall (Jun 24, 2011)

I'm showing my age. I was thinking of glass bottles.
Plastic ones I have used to store paper clips or safety pins.
Years ago our local chemist reused the bottles but "Health and Safety" put paid to that.


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## cainchar (Dec 14, 2012)

Clever, clever! Some great ideas here for school!

Silly me. I was thinking old glass bottles- like the old blue milk of magnesia, and old glass prescription bottles.



yourmother306 said:


> EUREKA
> http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/daily-green-tips/recycle-prescription/


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## Lolly12 (Oct 10, 2012)

http://craftingagreenworld.com/2013/11/08/winter-crafts-upcycle-pill-bottle-snowman/

http://craftstew.com/tutorials/recycled-aspirin-bottle-knitting-spool


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

yourmother306 said:


> EUREKA
> http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/daily-green-tips/recycle-prescription/
> 
> I'm going to do some of these ideas, awesome


Nothing but the page came up when I clicked on it.


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## circak (Sep 16, 2014)

Great ideas!


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## yourmother306 (Nov 30, 2011)

mama879 said:


> Nothing but the page came up when I clicked on it.


wow
it was working before, but not now :-(


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## jonibee (Nov 3, 2011)

They have those wire trees for putting bottles on ..I just have them on my window sills (upper) where the lock is located or above the entrance into my dining room and living room (hopefully we don't experience an earthquake as I can literally see them coming down). Or use them as mini-vases for a single flower..


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## mairmie (Jun 16, 2011)

Someone gave a website for recycling medicine bottles and other plastic containers It`s pharm-ecological.ca-templates....
It`s in Canada.

I checked it out. It is in the Province of British Columbia(west coast) I live in Nova Scotia(East Coast) Canada is a reeaally big country a long distance to take or mail recyclable materials! Maybe some day it will really be
everywhere in Canada but not at this time!


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## KittyMomma (Dec 12, 2012)

Our local homeless shelters and women's shelters use them. They are filled with shampoo, body wash, lotion, etc and given to folks who come to the shelter. Saves them cost wise as they can buy the huge containers and portion them out. I always wash mine before donating.


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## circak (Sep 16, 2014)

Thank you all for such great ideas on recycling!


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## yorkie1 (Sep 5, 2011)

This is getting clear away from the subject, but thot it might be interesting to some. 
The first post said be careful and don't put bottles in a window where the sun could shine thru and might cause a fire. 
I had a friend that had a really large paper weight collection. She had a lot of them on her window sills throughout her house. The window sill in the South window had some pretty bad scorched places under some of the weights before she realized it. Needles to say she didn't display them in the sun anymore.


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## Dawne27 (Sep 10, 2013)

I always use them for small items in my bag for knitting like stitch holders or markers. They also work for yarn needles if the bottle is tall enough.


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## KnittingBadgerBabe (Mar 7, 2011)

I have used these bottles for a variety of storage. Depending on the size of the bottle, I've been able to store toothpicks and cotton swabs in them. I've used them to keep extra pierced earring backs and jewelry components (jump rings, beads). When I craft while traveling, I have put embroidery scissors, thread skeins, and threaded needles in cleaned-out prescription pill bottles. I've also carried knitting row counters, markers, stitch holders, and (in bigger bottles) crochet hooks. At home, our emptied prescription bottles have held safety and straight pins, paperclips, push pins, ear plugs, and miscellaneous screws, nuts and bolts, bottles of super glue, and cloth/plastic tape measures. I also use the bottles to store coins and coin collections (e.g., state quarters). The bottles are also perfect for holding smaller containers of "messy" medicines (like ointments). I also carry my eyeglass cleaning supplies (the cleaning liquid and a small cloth) in my purse -- no more accidents where liquids and ointments empty onto the contents of my purse and cause permanent or temporary damage. The larger bottles also hold compacted plastic bags that I can reuse at stores. And the bottles are perfect for transferring traditional skeins of yarn into center-pull skeins. Given the number of prescriptions my husband and I have, we accumulate more bottles than we can use. Many local pharmacies will take them back for reuse or proper disposal. Perhaps local Scout troops or senior centers might be able to use them for crafting (making portable sewing kits, etc.). These are ideas off the top of my head. I suspect there are a lot more uses for the bottles. Hope this helps.


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## glnwhi (Jan 19, 2011)

I have a friend who claims she has never thrown away anything she has always recycled,reused everything. In her house she has little glass medicine , Noxzema and various bottles on tables among pictures and such some of them have tiny dried flowers in them and no it is not cluttered.I remember a Vicks Vapor Rub jar with just a tiny bit of dried flowers in a golden hue setting on an end table it made quite a statement.


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## yourmother306 (Nov 30, 2011)

yourmother306 said:


> wow
> it was working before, but not now :-(


and, today it is working
STORAGE
1. Store seeds inside the bottles and then label the bottles according to the seeds they hold. Seeds that need to be kept cold can easily be placed inside the fridge in these bottles.

2. Glue several bottles next to each other and use the glued collection on your desk as a storage system for all your tiny things: rubber bands, paper clips, hair pins, needles, nails, bolts, screws, matches, etc. Or just place some fresh flowers inside to brighten up your office.

3. If you need a coin holder to place in your purse or your car, place your loose change in the prescription bottles. No more looking everywhere for change especially if you need to pay the toll.

4. Use these bottles to store Barbies high heels, jewelry etc.

DONATION
5. Donate your empty prescription bottles to your local vet, animal shelters, Some places will take prescription bottles and reuse them to fill prescriptions for the animals.

6. Some free clinics also take empty prescription bottles and reuse them. Ask if you can donate yours to the free clinic in your area. Right now North Point needs large prescription bottles.

7. Homeless shelters sometimes take empty prescription bottles. Call your local homeless shelter to find out if they do.

PETS
8. Makes a nice rattle/toy for cats (not babies). Put some dried beans inside and close it tight. Then let them play.

ART
9. If you like to paint decorative pieces and buy paint in large sizes to save money you can transfer some paint to these small containers to work on one or two projects at a time without using up all the paint or letting it dry up.

Food
Note: I have read in several places that it is not wise to use prescription bottles for any kind of food storage due to the residue that some prescriptions leave behind so please use caution.

10. Here is an early valentine gift idea that involves reusing brown prescription bottles. Susan from Houston, TX fills hers up with chocolate kisses, relabels them Rx for a Happy Valentines Day, lots of hugs and kisses! and then gives them to the people she loves.

Caution: Putting candy in a prescription bottle can confuse a child. Please be careful about where you place these reused prescription bottles and your real ones. Children cant tell the difference between one and the other.

11. Turn prescription bottles into saltshakers. Paint the bottles or leave as is. Poke tiny holes in the caps then fill them with salt or pepper and use them as saltshakers.

12. If you pack salad for lunch a prescription bottle is a tiny storage place to store some salad dressing.

EMERGENCY
13. You never know when your clothes will rip or youll loose a button. A Mini Sewing kits would come in handy in a case like this. Some prescription bottles are big enough to store some needles and thread and maybe more.

14. A tiny emergency kit for a cut or scrape can fit in a prescription bottle: band-aids, cotton balls, q-tips and some tiny alcohol wipes.

15. Use to neatly store plastic bags in your purse in case you suddenly need a plastic bag, say during a car ride with someone that tends to get motion sickness

CRAFT
16. As part of a quilting tip quilt designer Mark Lipinski suggest to store thread spools in prescription bottles to prevent it from tangling.

17. Melt them and make them into jewelry. This is supposed to be a fun kids craft.

Note: I do not know what kind of pollution this release in the air. For less air pollution maybe they can just be cut into pieces.

18. Make tiny maracas

19. Store buttons, beads and other small craft items in these bottles.

20. Make a Snowman Christmas Ornament out of a prescription bottle.


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## MrsMurdog (Apr 16, 2013)

I use them to store my harvested seeds. Also good for storing stitch markers, needle tips, pony tail holders, bobby pins, etc, etc, etc.


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## hannabavaria (Sep 25, 2011)

circak said:


> What ideas do we have for using old medicine bottles?


[] My fav seemed to be fitted exactly to store a roll of quarters [laundry/vending machines]

[] keep tubes from getting crushed [super glue]

[] carry broken necklace to repair

[] turkey lacers

[] beads/findings


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## kittenosmall (Dec 31, 2012)

I keep loose change in one in my purse


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## minkeyswife (Dec 25, 2014)

I use one for broken sewing machine needles and other bent or otherwise unusable pins, xacto blades, or sharp pointy things.


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