Starbucks Cups to Earrings? Sure, Why Not?

About a month ago, I received a text from my brother.  It read, "Guess we are going to have some upcycled stuff at our house soon."  My twelve year old niece, Mikayala, was visiting him and wanted to do a project...a surprise project.  So the first place she looked for ideas was MY blog.  This was a proud day indeed!  My first familial convert, another dumpster diver in family.  The project that she picked was my most popular post to date, How to Make a Soup Can Herb Garden:

Not too shabby, eh? She used a power drill and everything to complete her project!  Proud. Day. In. Deed.  So this week, when she suggested that the design on her Starbucks cup would make for a cute pair of heart shaped earrings, I said "OK! Let's do it."  AND, "Let's make a video tutorial while we're at it."

We made quite a few pairs of these earrings in both heart and star shapes and they ranged in difficulty level from, "so easy a 5 year old could do 'em" to "okay, an adult could wear these too."  Here are a couple:

I hope you'll swing by my YouTube channel to see how we made these and show a little love to Mikayla for her YouTube debut!  After all, she did do her nails for you! :)

More Upcycled Storage Compliments of Starbucks

It's true, I'm a junkie and I don't always have my reusable cup with me when I'm jonesing.  Here are few storage solutions that I get from my Starbucks cold cups.

They are great for storage of small items, like these buttons (or in workshop for nails, nuts and bolts)

Or to sort plastic lids

I even use my leftover cups to submerge my paper beads.  When I'm done I simply snap the lid on and cover the straw opening with a piece of tape to keep my leftover adhesive and varnish as fresh as the day I poured it into the cup.  These would be great for storing leftover kids paints too.
 

Do you reuse your beverage containers for anything else?

Five Other Uses for a Starbucks Cup

I know it's terrible, but my dirty little secret is (cue the scary music)...I have more disposable Starbucks cups than any one human should ever collect in a lifetime!  Of course, I've rectified the problem by now with reusable beverage containers.  But every now and again when I don't have my cup with me or I just have to have a VENTI when my reusable will only hold a grande, I add to my collection.  So what's a girl supposed to do with all those left over cups?  Here are five ways to upcycle those cold cups:

1.  Make a bird feeder. 
2.  Use them glues or to mix paints in.  They are great for crafting!
3.  Plant an herb or succulent garden.  You could even wrap scrap fabric around them and tie it in place with some raffia or hemp to jazz them up.
4.  Make a wreath for the mantle or the door.
5.  Make a canopy...Okay so you won't make much shade with the clear Starbucks cups but you'll start a conversation or two.

And don't forget:  If your local recycling program doesn't take #5 plastics you can collect them and deliver to your local Whole Foods, Target or other retailer with a collection box.  You can find your closest location on the Preserve website.  And now, you can go enjoy your favorite iced venti whatever with a little less guilt.