This DIY Turns An Old Plastic Container Lid Into Neat Home Storage

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Unless you've discovered a way to purchase all of your food in recyclable containers, you probably amass quite a few plastic lids each month. To keep this petroleum-based packaging out of landfills, where it takes 450 years to decompose, challenge yourself to find new uses for leftover lids. There are all kinds of ways to repurpose the lids from plastic containers in your home and garden. In fact, you can turn them into storage containers that double as home decor. At least one easy upcycling project transforms a single lid into a divided container that incorporates the textural appeal of natural materials. It's another good reason not to throw away your old coffee containers.

YouTuber Camelia DIY shared a video demonstrating how to make a three-compartment organizer from a large, round plastic lid (the cover of a plastic paint can would work nicely), cardboard scraps, brown jute twine, and spare pieces of fabric. Hot glue holds everything together, so no sewing skills are required. 

Start by tracing your chosen lid on a piece of cardboard and cutting out the resulting circle. Next, draw three pie-like slices of equal sizes on it. Make their tips meet in the center, then measure the lengths of their sides. From a separate piece of cardboard, cut out strips that are the length you just measured and the height you'd like your organizer to be. Also, make a long strip whose length matches the circumference of the circle and whose height matches that of the other strips.

Once your cardboard pieces are prepared, cover the lid's exterior with fabric. To do this, hot-glue the fabric to the edges of the lid's interior, where the lip meets the flat surface, and snip the excess away. Line one side of the cardboard circle the same way, and glue the unlined side to the lid's interior. Wrap twine around each cardboard strip, adding glue for extra holding power. Glue the longest strip around the edge of the circle to create a large rim, and position the smaller ones so they create three shapes that resemble pie slices, just like when you took measurements earlier. 

Lids of many different sizes can be used for this DIY project. A circular lid from a cream cheese tub would be perfect for a small storage solution. Round plastic caps from oatmeal canisters, cottage cheese containers, and more would make good medium-sized organizers.

Want to craft a more vibrant version of this container? Swap the twine for multi-colored yarn or several different hues of craft floss. A 50-skein pack of Le Paon Rainbow Embroidery Floss or a comparable product should give you lots of options. Or, repurpose a patterned cloth napkin to make your organizer a bit fancier. Have several napkins to upcycle? Use the rest to DIY a chic acrylic tray for displaying small potted plants. If wrapping string around pieces of cardboard sounds more tedious than enjoyable, try gluing a wide ribbon to the strips instead. A gingham ribbon will give your organizer a farmhouse feel, while an Aietsyei Floral Jacquard Ribbon or something similar can lend it a boho vibe.