Thrifty Thursday: Useful Little Compartments

Old egg cartons and ice-cube trays can be used to store many of the same tiny items - egg cartons provide a lid, which may sway your choice.

• On your dresser, both are excellent for storing earrings, rings, small brooches and other jewelry, sorting coins, or separating all the bits and pieces for a particular project.
• In your sewing or crafting area, egg cartons or ice-cube trays can be used to sort buttons, sequins, beads, snap fasteners, hooks and eyes, and other easy-to-lose objects.
• In the workshop, nails, screws, washers, nuts, and small bolts can be kept under control, in sequence if you are taking something apart.
• For storing small Christmas ornaments, egg cartons are ideal because of the lids, and because they stack readily in a larger cardboard box.
• For the golfer in the family, an egg carton is the ideal size for storing golf balls, keeping them clear and ready for teeing off.
• In your junk drawer, an ice-cube tray can bring order to all those bits and pieces - rolls of stamps, extra keys, tiny batteries, paper clips, rubber bands.
• Another handy use: organizing medications or vitamins for the day.