Eight ways to reuse and upcycle milk jugs

Milk jugs are a pretty perfect material for DIY projects. They're durable, lightweight, they float, they're flexible, and they are ubiquitous.

The best part of making cool stuff from milk jugs is that you don't have to pay for them. I mean, they're trash! But when you're a DIY-er, you know that some trash is an ideal material for upcycling into something great.

Just rinse out plastic milk jugs well before you craft with them, okay? You don't want your milk jug capiz shell earrings to smell like sour milk.

Wendy Cutler/Flickr Creative Commons

To make milk jug lanterns, stick a string of colored lights in empty milk jugs. No electrician required.

Jessica Sheridan/Flickr Creative Commons

This dome with walls made of upcycled milk jugs was built by Studio Klimoski Chang Architects, and is called "Head in the Clouds". (Leave it to builders in New York City.) 

Alysha Slater/Hometalk.com

Irrigate just the roots of a garden by poking holes in a milk jug, and burying it. Add water for a slow drip of water to the roots of your plants. It's a perfect solution for watering plants when you're away for the weekend.

Adam Perkins/Flickr Creative Commons

Plastic milk jugs make great mini-greenhouses or planters. If you leave the neck of the jug on, it's a mini-greenhouse. If you cut off the handle and neck of the bottle, you have a planter in which to start plants, or even to let them grow big.

natasha-d/flickr creative commons

Cut up a plastic milk jug and label with a permanent marker. It's a free and easy way to get yourself some durable plant markers.

Mary Anne Enriquez/Flickr Creative Commons

Make custom jewelry gift boxes out of flattened and folded plastic milk jugs. 

Lee Lilly/Flickr Creative Commons

Paint milk jugs for cheap and fun Halloween decorations.

Paul Mayne/Flickr Creative Commons

Save change in a milk jug. Who says a piggy bank has to look like a pig?

Chaya Kurtz writes for Networx.com.

Updated June 4, 2018.

Get Free Quotes

Looking for a Pro? Call us at (866) 441-6648





Top Cities Covered by our Remodeling Contractors

Get Free Quotes
  • Service Needed
  • Zip Code
Get quotes from qualified local contractors