3 Creative Ways to Reuse Egg Cartons

If you’ve ever seen a greenhouse full of seedlings at a nursery, you know they were likely separated from each other in small, sectioned containers. To do this at home, simply use a leftover egg carton.

Once the seeds have sprouted, you can transfer the seedlings to their own pots or into the ground, and – voilà! – you’ve got a full-fledged herb garden.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 paper egg carton
• Scissors
• Potting soil
• Seeds
• Water
• Spray bottle

Let's get started:

• Cut the lid off the egg carton with a pair of scissors and save it to use as a drip tray underneath the rest of the carton. You can leave the entire bottom of the carton (the part with the egg cups) intact or cut it into separate sections.
• Poke the bottom of each cup with scissors to create tiny drainage holes (about 1/8-inch wide) – just enough for water to drip through without the soil falling out.
• Fill each cup about two-thirds of the way with potting soil, and poke two to three seeds in each.
• Cover the seeds with potting soil, referring to the seed packet for exact depth measurements.
• Spritz seeds with water until the soil is slightly moist, being careful not to drench them. If you use too much water, the seeds won’t germinate.
• Place the carton in a warm, sunny place and let the seeds do their work, keeping the soil slightly moist by spritzing every day.

Tip: Reusing your paper egg cartons helps cut down on plastic waste.

Tasseled wall hangings don’t have to be intricate macramé pieces that take years of practice to master. In fact, if you paint the individual cups from a recycleable egg carton, they look like little bell-shaped flowers, and when strung up on twine to a dowel, give the impression of a craft you’d find at an art show.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 paper egg cartons
• Twine
• Scissors
• 2 colors of all-purpose paint
• Paintbrush
• 1 1/4-inch x 30-inch wood dowel

Let's get started:

• Start by cutting out the individual egg cups from the carton. You will need about 20 (or more, it just depends on how large you want your wall hanging to be).
• Cut small slits into the corners of each cup (there should be 4 slits total) and shape each flat side into a petal by rounding the top off with scissors.
• Using scissors, poke a hole (just big enough to let the twine pass through) on the bottom of each cup.
• You can paint the cups a solid color, or paint them like flowers with a gradient, adding a darker color in the center and at the base of each petal, fading out into the lighter color on the tips. Let them dry separately on paper towels or newspaper.
• Once dry, string the flowers onto a yard of twine, tying a knot about every 5-inches to make sure they don’t slide down onto each other, then trim the excess. We added five flowers on each string of twine, with four total strings of flowers, but you can adjust depending on your preference.
• Tie the strings of flowers onto the wooden dowel at 5-inch intervals and tie a piece of twine at both ends of the dowel to hang it from the wall. It should form a triangle with the dowel when hung on a nail.

Poppies, while beautiful, are hard to find in-season, and only last about a week once they’re cut – but these poppies made from egg cartons will last much longer. Some red paint, black felt and floral wire make the egg carton cups totally unrecognizable, and right at home in an empty vase (no water necessary)!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 paper egg carton
• Red paint
• Paintbrush
• Black felt
• Hot glue
• Scissors
• Floral wire
• Green floral or electrical tape

Let's get started:

• Begin by cutting out individual egg cups from the carton. Each poppy will need two.
• Cut small slits into the corners of each cup (there should be four slits total), and shape each flat side into a petal by rounding the top off with scissors.
• With scissors, poke a small hole on the bottom of each cup, just enough to let the wire pass through.
• Paint all the cups red, and let them dry separately on paper towels or newspaper.
• Once dry, thread about 10 to 12 inches of thick gauge floral wire (or several pieces of thin wire twisted together) through two egg cups stacked on top of each other, and twist the end to secure.
• Position the cups so that each petal is showing, and use your hot glue gun to keep the cups in place.
• Starting at the base of the flower, wrap the floral tape around the wire, securing with hot glue, so that the wire is completely covered. Wrap several times at the top to make it thicker and continue all the way down the wire.
• Cut a small circle from the black felt (about the size of a water bottle cap), and cut tiny slits all around the outside to make a star shape (about 25 cuts).
• Then, separate the cut segments by cutting a little bit more from each slit, so that you can clearly see each segment.
• Using your glue gun, glue the felt to the center of the flower. Display your poppies in an empty vase, or wherever you like.