What do you do...

[omshanti]

..with an empty lip balm container?

(You thought I was gonna go there, didn't you? Well, I almost did.)

Once your lip balm is gone (and, yes, it's gonna take a while) there's no reason to throw away the container! There are many, many things you can use it for.

First, you're going to want to clean it out. Wipe out any small bits of lip balm with a tissue or piece of paper towel. If you have a dishwasher, run it through there; if not, the best way to get the last dregs of lip balm out is to dump it in boiling water for a while. A bit of dish soap in the water won't hurt.

That done? You have a lovely, versatile container!

Use it to hold:

• beads
• a few pills, for travelling or your purse
• cat treats, for training your cat to walk on a leash
• dog treats, because it's always fun to have a few available
• candy
• good sea salt, since all you'll find at restaurants is the cheap stuff
• miscellaneous hardware bits
• other random beading supplies -- I use one for crimp beads because they're tiny
• spices that you only use tiny amounts of -- saffron and the like
• sequins, because everyone needs sequins
• a couple of tea bags
• keep matches dry when camping

Other uses:

• tiny dish for playing tea party with your rats
• small portable mirror
• frisbee
• cat toy (but then that's true of anything)
• fishing float
• put a tea light in the base, and set up the lid behind it to reflect the candlelight
• portable string-telephone
• saucer for holding a used teabag
• mix paints
• poke holes in top, hold cool bugs

I'm sure there are a whole lot of uses I haven't thought of, too. What could you do with an empty lip balm container?