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A lot of plastic storage containers come with lids, but what do you do with those lids if you have no need to seal your plastic storage bins? Sometimes bins are more useful without their lids, especially small plastic bins in the kitchen or the bedroom or bathroom. When you need to be able to reach contents quickly and easily, it makes no sense to keep the lids on your bins. Do you just throw away the lids, though? There’s no reason to, not when there are plenty of clever and creative uses for those extraneous pieces of plastic! Here are just a few:

1. Drip pans.
Do you have a persistent, annoying drip somewhere in your house? If it doesn’t drip too often, a lid might be a better solution than an actual container, because it takes up a lot less space. These are great to put on the bottom of your refrigerator. You can also place them under leaky containers (honey is a prime culprit) in your fridge, on your counters, and in your cabinets. Drip pans in your spice cabinet can also be great for catching pepper, garlic powder, and other spices that get free of their containers.

2. Sink stoppers.
Need to close your sink drain, but missing the stopper? A plastic lid can fit over the drain and create a vacuum. This works great as a temporary solution now and again.

3. Plant coasters.
Have a green thumb? If you have a large plastic lid that isn’t doing anything, consider putting it under one of your potted plants. It can catch water that drains through the bottom, as well as excess dirt that comes out of the pot from time to time. The lid can make it easier to pick up your plant and water it too.

4. Crafting aids.
There are a lot of times when a plastic lid can come in handy while you are crafting. Are you a painter? Plastic lids work perfectly as paint palettes. They also work great for holding your paintbrushes so that you do not get paint on other surfaces. If you are using a hot glue gun, put a lid under your project to catch the drips. You can also use lids to hold onto small items like beads or glitter when you are making jewelry or scrapbooks. The items are much easier to reach in a lid than they would be in a jar or a box, and you keep them contained so that they do not roll around or get all over everything. If you think about it, you can probably come up with other crafting ideas for making use of spare plastic lids as well!

There really are a lot of innovative uses for the lids you cannot use on your large and small plastic storage containers. There is no need to throw the lids away when you can find dozens of uses around your home for them. This also gives you the option of using them again on your bins if you ever decide to repurpose them.