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If your a parent then you know the frustration that comes along with your beautiful little baby outgrowing everything within months of being purchased. Bottles, tiny clothes, diapers, baby wipes, diaper rash cream, toys, crib... The list goes on and on and on!
Once your son or daughter outgrows their baby stuff, what do you do with it all? Throw it in the trash, donate it, give to friends? Even though helping out a baby in need is a wonderful idea, why not try and reuse some of that baby stuff and make sure you get your moneys worth out of them?! You may not realize it but you can reuse and sometimes redesign your baby's unused things into useful household items and give them a whole new life. I love reusing stuff that most people wouldn't think of being anything more than the obvious.
Here's a neat list of ways to reuse your baby things once they're no longer needed for the kids:
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Baby Clothes:
- Pass on your kid's outgrown baby clothes on to your daughter to be used as clothes for her baby dolls! It's ridiculous to spend so much money on doll clothes when you already have baby clothes that fit perfect!
- You can also cut squares out of your favorite outfits and save them until you have enough to make a one-of-a-kind memory blanket that's more than personal.
- Not to mention that old clothes are great to be used as scrap fabric.
- Who hasn't used baby wipes to clean up their dirty baby as well as their older siblings? Their also good for cleaning up small messes around the house.
- My all time favorite use for baby wipes is face wipes for removing makeup, dirt, sweat and anything else you may find yourself wiping off your face.
- Don't forget about the obvious use for those leftover wipes... Just sit them in the bathroom and your family will figure out the rest :)
Baby Wipe Containers:
- I'm sure many of you already know that those empty baby wipe containers make great storage boxes, especially for small kids toys. Toddlers enjoy the task of putting the toys in and dumping them back out :)
- You can also store money or other small items in them as well.
- When my girls were little, they wore diapers that were 1 size apart for a while, so I put a few of each size in 2 separate baby wipe containers and wrote their names on them with permanent marker. It not only made diaper changing at home less stressful but those boxes worked wonders when we left the house in a hurry. I simply grabbed the containers and was on my way!
Crib:
- With a bit of creativity and few tools, you can transform that old crib into a new homework desk for the kids. Remove the side rails, add a solid board or sheet of glass that's the same size as the bottom of the crib as the work surface. Slide up a chair and you have a simple homework desk.
- If your crib wasn't already build to be used as a toddler bed once your little one outgrows it, just remove one long side of rails and there you go! Simple as can be! Painting your child's "new bed" is always an option when revamping something.
Baby Food:
- Did you know that you can use leftover baby food to make dog biscuits?! Many homemade dog treat recipes call for baby food and are a big hit for your 4 legged kids!
- You can also add some baby food flavors to regular recipes, such as muffins and cookies. Yum!
Baby Food Jars:
- Need somewhere to store your button collection and other small craft supplies? Baby food jars are great for small storage and organizing!
- You can also turn those little jars into all kinds of fun stuff with you get your crafty brain to working! (Candles, lightening bug jars, etc.)
Diaper Rash Cream:
Teething Rings:- Ever find yourself needing some face paint for a birthday party or a Halloween Costume? You can either go to the store and buy some like everyone else... or... you can create your own using diaper rash cream! (I'll be telling you how to do this very soon in a future)
- Before you toss out those water filled baby teething rings, stop and ask yourself one question... Can this be used to keep food cool whole in a lunch box? I bet it can! Never thought of that idea before have ya? There are hundreds of reusable things in this world! :)
Baby Blankets:
- Your daughters' old baby blankets will put a huge smile on her face when you tell her that they now belong to her dolls!
- Grab the kids and teach them how to sew while creating pillows from baby blankets! Fold the blanket in half to make a mini body pillow that only needs 3 sides sewn, the last side will be the folded one! Make sure you have some stuffing to fluff up your pillows with.
- You can also toss those unused blankets in with your scrap fabric to be used on future projects.
- Almost every child has a set of wooden blocks. Wither they're ABC Blocks, have numbers on them or decorated with pictures - wooden blocks are great! But once your child stops playing with them, what do you do? How about making wall art that's personalized with your child's name or a special phrase?! You can either attach the blocks together with wood glue or leave them separated and display the blocks on a shelf in your child's room.
- Bookends can also be created by stacking two identical towers from the blocks, attach them together and add to your bookshelf!
- Or use single blocks as shelf brackets (attach to bottom if shelf and wall) for unique decorative shelves.
- Continuing with the block theme, drill a hole into the back of a few blocks and replaced drawer handles with blocks and have a whole new set of drawer pulls! Creative right?
- Last but not least... Cover a decent sized wooden cube or padded milk carton crate (make sure you add enough padding to both to insure comfort) Add four blocks, one on each corner, to be used as feet on your awesome new stool!!
Unwanted Stuffed Animals:
- We all have that random collection of old stuffed animals that never get played with. No one ever knows what to do with them since getting rid of them never seems right... Well, what about giving them a new life by using some of their faux fur on clothing revamps as well as for DIY Halloween costumes! (I used fur from an old stuffed toy to make a Ware wolf costume for my friend's son a couple years back, it turned out really neat!)
- If you decide to create pillows out of old baby blankets then you can use the stuffing from inside the animals instead if spending money for big bags at the store.
- Not to mention that if you get creative, those old stuffed animals can be used in many other ways during craft time.
Socks/Booties/Shoes:
- Like with the outgrown baby clothes, baby socks, booties and tiny shoes can be reused by your daughter(s) with their baby dolls!
- By adding a zipper or button to the opening part of the socks, you can create tiny little change purses that are simply adorable!
- You can also create tiny sock puppets and add the left overs to your scrap pile for future projects.
Bassinet:
- Great for blanket storage or even add a couple store bought flower baskets to sit inside, creating a beautiful flower display.
Baby monitor:
- My aunt actually still uses her baby monitor in her daughter's bedroom so she can feel comfortable about her 8yr old daughter being on the other end of the house. I'd say that this us a wonderful idea to use with your kids up until they reach the pre-teen age.
- There are soo many other baby items that I know I've missed and could be reused as well. Try training yourself to ask questions like "What else can this be used for?" & "Would this would good for the craft box?" before tossing unused things out the door!
