A Keurig coffee machine is a wonderful thing. It’s convenient, fast and easy, and it makes the perfectly brewed, perfectly sized cup of coffee every time, right? It’s coffee perfection right there in your kitchen except for one thing… The downside to the Keurig is all of those little, plastic k-cups piling up in the landfill.
If you’ve ever wondered how to re-use your k-cups but weren’t quite sure what to do with them, you’re going to love this post!
Together, my Facebook followers and I have come up with 25 crafty and creative ways for you to re-use Keurig K-cups in the home, garden, craft room, classroom and playroom!
For your conviencience, this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
25 Ways to Re-use Keurig K-Cups
1. Pair your K-cups up with a shoelace, and you have a fine-motor lacing activity for toddlers or preschoolers.
2. Re-use Keurig K-cups by organizing small craft items and office supplies in them. They’re great for holding thumbtacks, paper clips, buttons etc.
3. Cut a slit in the bottom of a K-cup and you have a handy card-holder for young children.
4. Double up a couple of Keurig K-cups. Plug the bottom hole with a bit of hot glue or cover it with tape (I used a small piece of hockey tape ). Fill your K-cups with fresh herbs and a bit of water. Set in a mini-muffin tin and freeze. Dip into a cup of warm water, pop them into a baggy, and store in the freezer. Great for adding to soups and sauces! (My Triple Bladed Scissors make light work of chopping herbs)
5. Add a basket of K-cups to the block centre in your toy room or classroom. Kids love building structures with them and stacking them together.
6. Use your k-cups as seed-starters for the garden. Just add a bit of garden soil, drop in your seeds, top off with more garden soil, and water regularly.
7. Young children can use K-cups for a money-sorting activity. You could also have them sort coloured buttons into different k-cups. Bet you never thought you’d be using your leftover k-cups for educational purposes!
8. Use your K-cups for colour recognition and patterning activities with your toddler. Put all of your k-cups in a basket or bowl, and have your child stack them according to colour. Then, introduce patterning by alternating colours as you stack your k-cups together.
9. Use them for crafting at Christmas time:
Turn your Keurig’s K-cups into homemade advent calendar for Christmas!
Make K-cup Christmas bell ornaments.
Make some festive K-cup snack holders or party favours.
10. Turn a few k-cups into a sound matching game for preschoolers. Gather pairs of small items and place them in the cups. Seal with glue and paper and have your child shake the cups to find the pairs that sound alike.
More ways to re-use Keurig K-cups:
11. Plug the small hole at the bottom with hot glue, and use as small paint pots or glue pots at craft-time.
12. Stuff the cup with some cotton or quilt batting, and cover with fabric for a make-shift pincushion.
13. A stack of K-cups and a pipe-cleaner makes a fine threading craft for preschoolers.
14. Make a mobile
15. String a garland of sweetheart lights in a little girl’s room
16. Keep a stash of k-cups for play at the water-table or at bath-time.
17. Play with your k-cups on the light-table.
18. Paint the insides of the k-cups with different colours of paint, and toddlers can play a matching game with pom-poms.
19. Re-use your Keurig’s k-cups by turning them into a penny toss game for the kids.
20. K-cups are great in the doll house as garbage pails, buckets, laundry hampers etc.
21. Make a bowling game for kids using a stack of k-cups and a marble or bouncy ball.
22. Use k-cups when playing with play dough or cloud-dough.
23. Toss a few k-cups into the sandbox.
24. Make a game-token for homemade games by slicing a slit in the top of a k-cup, and inserting a flash card.
25. And finally, one last way to re-use your Keurig’s k-cups: Make more coffee! Pick up a set of these Keurig K-Cup Caps and re-use your k-cups time and time again for brewing your own coffee or tea.
And now it’s your turn! Tell me your favourite ways for re-using K-cups! I’d love to hear them!
More Crafts from Repurposed Items:
50+ Ways to Re-Use Baby Food Jars
Repurposed Denim Craft Aprons (made from the pant legs of old jeans)
25 Ways to Re-Use Toilet Rolls Get the 3-5 Playful Preschool e-Book!
Get the 3-5 Playful Preschool e-Book!
25+ Preschool activities by 25 bloggers, 10 printables, PLUS 50 links to activities not featured in the book.
Click to download your copy now!
Follow the Hooligans on Facebook!
Follow the Hooligans on Facebook
Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Nicole
Wow, what awesome ideas! Thanks for sharing.
happyhooligans
Thanks, Nicole! Glad you liked them!
Debra Saniti
K-Cups plug the whole and use them for coloring Easter eggs. You would need quail eggs or some small one’s for sure. Love your ideas. Thanks
Willie o'Dell
These are all lame. I will continue to just throw them out!
happyhooligans
So creative and ingenious. Glad you’re not nearly as lame as we are, Willie.
Karen
I think these ideas are great. So many uses for them. I’m having a really hard time trying to clean them out. Is there a trick? I use the Kirkland brand (don’t think that makes a difference, but I can’t get the filter out of them). Any tricks on how to do that? Thanks!
Caren
I have to agree with Willie o’Dell that these kind of are lame. I mean seriously, using kcups to store small craft items? You’d need tons of kcups to hold paper clips, beads, or buttons. Who has ONLY the amount of paper clips that can fit in a kcup anyway? Having kcups filled with these things is only creating clutter. A container, or ziploc bag would do the trick better than kcups. And you don’t have to worry about spillage if the container or bag gets knocked around.
Card holder? Use a clothes pin, or one of those paper clips.
Cathi
Great ideas for a kids’Sunday school class, or activities even at a Senior Center. Using the cups in a constructive way is far better than tossing them in the trash.
Lindi
Was there a need for a negative reply !!!
Just don’t reply !
G
You are a sad person willi
Gerald Dean "Geri" Lilly
I have used them many times in preschool Sunday School class to put snacks for the kids, Gold Fish, M7M’s etc. The kids loved having their own cup of goodies!
Jackie Currie
Brilliant idea!
Katy
I can think of a few ways to turn it into a drinking game! Like set them up beer pong-style and bounce coins in, and drink from your own glass instead of sharing icky cups. That just shows how much drinking I used to do. Lol These days, I’m more likely to use them for sorting my daughter’s teeny-tiny hair things or for bath toys or painted as kooky eyes for a monster, or as a hat for a Frosty the snowman craft.
K Patrice
I used K-cups to make chairs for my Granddaughter’s LOl dolls. I covered the cup with printed duck tape and added a bead and a washer to make the base. Perfect size.
Jackie Currie
What a creative idea!
Lynne
Re: #4. Why do you freeze them, then put them in warm waterand then put them in a baggie and freeze again? And why double them up? Why wouldn’t you just put them in a freezer bag at the start? I don’t get it.
happyhooligans
At some point you’re going to have to take the frozen herbs out of the k-cups, so I would personally prefer to them all at once, pop them all into a baggy, so it’s easy to grab one and toss into a sauce when you need one. I guess it comes down to personal preference. Sure, you could throw all the frozen, plastic cups in a baggy, and remove the herbs from them at the time of use. 6 of one, half-dozen of the other. 🙂 As for doubling them up, because each k-cup has a hole in the bottom, doubling them up before you seal the hole is just an added measure to prevent the water from leaking out.
Stacy
I would like to see someone come up with a craft, using the cups as a snowman’s top hat. I often think about that when I open a small container of half and half at a restaurant, I love trash to treasure !!
happyhooligans
I was thinking the same thing, Stacy! They’d make great snowman hats!
Shana
Make snowmen out of Styrofoam balls
Dianne
Snow man or Santa ornaments
Use 5 cups
Place one rightside up
Glue second cup rightside down on top of first
Do this again with last two cups then glue them on top of each other
Spray paint white for a snow man; red for santa
Add all the accessories as needed such as black belt from felt, cotton ball spread out as a bread, wiggle eyes, small pom poms for buttons, felt for scarf, etc.
Spray paint last (5th) cup black or red and add a felt base of black for snowman hat or a cotton ball that has been stretched out long to go around the red one to use for Santa. Glue hat in place. Glue gun would be best
Rhonda
Great ideas! There is a craft on pintrest using kcups and the top of a can (after opening of course) paint both black, run a thin cord, looped, throught the hole with the knot inside the cup. Invert and glue the kcup on the lid . Glue a ribbon band around the cup and decorate with mini artificial Christmas greens .
Toni
OMG! I absolutely LOVE the Christmas ideas!!! *sigh* my husband is gonna kill me for saving more “garbage”! LOL Guess I gotta give him SOMETHING to complain about! 😉
lisa stalcup
they got a little filter thing that replaces all these fancy pants fancy things you just use the coffee you buy buy adding it to the filter that replaces these high priced cups
cost 9 bucks at wall mart you use it over and over ,, you can buy dunckin coffee or starbucks to put in it or maxwell house
Ashley
They don’t make them for the newer machines yet.
jennifer
You can use the solofill reusable k-cups and fill with your own coffee with the newer Keurig machines. All you have to do is cut the top ring that says “Keurig brewed” and glue it to the top of the reusable cup. The machine will read the label, allowing you to brew your own brand if coffee. 😊
Ruchi Seth
Great ideas!!!!even i have used waste curd cups for keeping stationary items & planting small plants & have used waste surf boxes for keeping stationary things.I decorated them with chalk dust& were appreciated by my daughter’s school teachers.
Shana
I spray paint the different size cups and make bells with ribbon & beads for gift tops for birthdays, anniversary’s & Christmas. I like the idea for freezing herbs… I’ve been using ice cube trays & really hate washing them!
Mary Ruth
Very clever! Would not have thought of this!
Donna Benson
totally off subject–but how about ideas for plastic tea light holders? I have tons of them
Shirlene Weber
Good question!
Katrina
I think the plastic is to thin and would be dangerous but…. If you filled in the hole, it would be a great way to make small wax portions for a melter.
Mindy
Wanted to ad to the pincushion think I have done that idea before with a friend and using a little ribbon a button and extra fabric and batting we made them look like cupcakes.
happyhooligans
That sounds adorable, Mindy!
Karen Tyler
Make musical shakers for kids. Put a dab of glue on the holes of the bottom of the k cups. Paint them. Or not. Fill one kcup with little pebbles, rice, dried peas, dried corn, or whatever you have that will make noise Now glue a empty kcup to the filled one. Matching it up perfectly. Let dry and shake! You can also use pretty sticky paper to decorate them instead of paint. Or for smaller kids, put the newly made shaker in a bag that you sew shut so if it does break, the little pieces inside are not a choking hazard.
happyhooligans
Great ideas, Karen! Thank you!
Susan
I love ferns, but my house is dry as a bone in Winter. I put my latest fern, in it’s plastic greenhouse pot, on top of a bunch of upside-down K-cups in a bigger china pot. Excess water drains into the china pot and my fern, sitting on top of the K-cups gets the benefit of the extra humidity without the roots rotting.
Jackie Currie
That’s so smart, Susan!
Andrea
You can also make it a matching game by having them match up the sounds (fill 2 cups with corn, 2 with rice, etc.
Helen (@wittyhoots)
These ideas are brilliant – thank you so much for linking up with Frugal Family Linky
Drea
Recycle them with Terracycle! They have a program for your old k cups! Terracycle.com
Laurie
Drea – I went to the Terracycle.com website and they don’t currently have a program for the K-Cups, only Nespresso….Sad, because I would LOVE to have a program to recycle these. Perhaps if a bunch of people gathered together and made a request of Terracycle, they might put together a program for K-Cups.
Needless to say, I LOVE the Terracycle.com website and all of it’s current recycle programs!! Hope they add more!! I have joined their site and I look forward to receiving their newsletter and future information……Thank you, Drea, for having directed us to such a wonderful and useful site!!
I too LOVE all of the crafty ideas posted here…..I would also love to be able to recycle my K-Cups. I already take the painstaking time to remove the coffee from the plastic cups to use in my garden…but sadly hadn’t found many things to do with the plastic cup…..
Let’s ALL leave as small a footprint on this magnificent Earth as we possibly can…..<3
Lynda
I save assorted plastic containers that I get regularly……take them to the nearest elementary school. The teachers there always grab them right away for classroom crafts !!!
Shari Aichele Dippong
love this. thanks. i really want to do the bell craft, it’s so cool!
Stacey
Slice the bottom and put a piece of paper towel in the bottom and use it to catch the mess of sucker and Popsicles .
Nikki G.
I love this idea!!! Thanks Stacey!
Lola
The thing about reusing them with your own coffee is that the coffee in k cups are made for your Keurig machine. They are ground specifically for the machine, and using coffee that isn’t the right consistency will shorten the life of your keurig, and then will not be covered by the warranty. I love all of the other ideas though!
Elisa Strickler
Lola, If this is the case with useing your own coffee in the Keurig machines, then why does Keurig make and sell an insert for their machine, complete with a small reusable filter, intended for this very use?
CrazyMomOf3
I had had mine replaced and I use the reusable filters from Keurig so this is not a valid statement. Also when I called Keurig to ask them if I needed to grind the coffee in a special way they said it makes no difference how it is ground as all companies use different grinds for different blends.
Stephanie Carpenter
I think it’s a freshness thing… These individual cups are popped open nice and fresh each day for the best cup of coffee. If you fill the cups with coffee, then you are missing the freshness point!!
Dena
I love Shanna’s idea, putting those bell ornaments onto gifts. I don’t have the little coffee cups, but I was thinking about using the little communion cups that get thrown away a church!
dian mcwethy
all great ideas; but most will still end up in the trash, sorry to say.
jackie r. wahle
I love these ideas ..I am a leader for a cub scout pack and we are always looking for neat crafty things to do.
✮DC4Lee50✮ (@DC4Lee50)
Plug the hole with a little hot glue and use them for jello shots. Non alcoholic for the kiddos of course!
Jann littleton
Single use plastics are a horrible detriment to the environment, these could be made from bio- degradable plastics. They will ultimately end up in a land fill or worse yet the gyres in the oceans. Crafting is nice but not the solution. Please boycott single use plastics.
Dianne
I use some of the flavored coffees but most of the time I use my refillable cups I bought a dollar general store (4 in a pack for about 10 dollars) I love my regular coffee brand and buying it in the k-cups is too expensive. Refills save money and the environment..a little at a time.
Wolf
Jann Littleton, THANK YOU for the prompt to reject all single-use plastics! I work in apartments maintenance, and one of the tenants who moved out left behind a huge bag of Kirkland Keurig-cups. I’m slowly going through the stash, cutting the cups open and using the coffee in my regular coffee-maker. But what to do with these damned cups! The only thing that really makes sense to me is to use them as seed-starters: everything else seems like it uses yet more resources. The plastic will still never break down; even so-called biodegradable plastics don’t REALLY ever break down, they just erode into tiny pieces that we can’t see.
happyhooligans
Call the city, and ask if they have a recycling program for them, Kathleen. Some places do. 🙂
Debra Maslowski
I have a stash of used K cups that i use for seed starters every year. I just keep reusing the same ones. I have reusable cups now that I use for my Keurig, but someone is always giving me K cups. In the summer when I’m done starting seeds, they get dried out and stored in a box for next year..
Allison
They make great holders for coloring Easter Eggs.
Karen
Pop them over fairy lights, like a shade.
kathy
Exactly what I was thinking!!
Susan
Me too! You could punch small holes in the sides to let light shine through!
Millie
Melt crayons outside during the hot summer months and we can use them as a tea party cup.
Patsy Moore
Take a string of small lights (colored or white) take off the top of the cup, if necessary enlarge the bottom hole, push the light bulb through from the outside to the inside. This makes a nice string of decorative lights for patio or indoors. You could paint or decorate the cups as you might for whatever goes with the holiday
Josie
I would only use LED lights for this. Other ones may get to hot and cause a fire.
happyhooligans
Good advice, Josie. Thanks!
Danette Johnson
Patsy, yours is an idea I really want to use. Thanks!
Rebecca Huskins
We have recycling around here so I just clean them out & toss them in with our plastic recycle items.
Helen (@wittyhoots)
Thank you for linking up with Frugal Family Linky last week – this is one of our featured posts! Hope you can join us again soon.
Joyce M Feltner
How do you clean them out? The little Keurig pods.
happyhooligans
I don’t own a Keurig, but I’ve seen some tutorials online (you can google it). I’ve seen people mention that you dump the grounds out, and then use a knife to scrape around the opening to release the mesh thingy? Does that make sense? Again, I’ve not done it myself, so I’m not exactly sure. Hopefully someone else will chime in here, Joyce.
Monica
I use a old chopstick to loosen and knock the coffee out to put in garden then over paper (it can get a little messy) I pull the filter out cut a hole in it and you can pull it around to take it out. pretty much how you peal the lid off of it. I use a small cardboard cutter to cut off the top because I reuse them too.
Stacey
Use hot glue to seal the hole and put in finger paints or regular paint for grade schoolers.
claudia moody jones
No matter what ideas you come up with, they will still end up in the landfill. I think it’s simply a bad idea to even buy the Keurig coffee maker.
Juliekins
I am basically bedridden and VERY sick. The Keurig has saved me. I have it near me, and can not only use it for teas (very comforting) or coffee for a kick, but use it to make cup-a-soup or many instant soups with the hot water feature. This gives me a bit of independence, and is one less thing I have to ask others to do for me. So, NO. It is NOT a bad idea to buy one.
happyhooligans
There’s definitely a difference between convenience and serving a useful purpose. I’m glad yours makes life a little easier for you, Julie, but so sorry you’re suffering. Prayers of strength and healing going out to you. x
Sue
So sorry you are suffering, but so glad you’ve found something that helps you. We as a society take everyday chores and things for granted. Hope you will feel better soon and continue to heal! Sending good vibes your way! 🙂
Lisa Imerman
I just was looking at the new Keurig and their website said that k-cups are recyclable #5 plastic. Seems you can recycle them? I use my own coffee with the k-cup reusable cup. The new keurig won’t accept your own coffee in the reusable cups without doing a hack to get it to work. These are great ideas.
Casey
You’re right. You cant re-use the plastic k-cups for your own coffee. Once the lid is peeled off you can’t use it to brew. They MUST have a lid. Good call Lisa!
Amy
I am set designer for a local community theater. I used the K-cups to build three candlestick style telephones for our up coming It’s a Wonderful Life production. The K-Cups were used to make the piece you speak into. Turned out really well.
ChaNita Bei
My mom said to cut the tops/bottoms off, decorate, and use as napkin holders.
Jeanette
used a black sharpie and made a ghost face on it. Wrote on the back “you’ve been booed! Happy Halloween!” Stuffed it with 2 mini chocolates like Milky Way and Three Musketeers. Used a piece of tape across the bottom to hold them in!
Betty Coleman
If you make your own soap you could use k-cups for the forms and make guest soaps.
Leigh
Make the hole a little bigger. Some cups we punched out designs (we made pumpkins and snowflakes)and others we drew on designs. We painted the insides of the Pumpkins ones and left the others alone. We placed a cup over each light bulb on a string of lights. The pumpkin one looked awesome on the banister. Can’t wait the see how the snowflakes look.
kim
I like the idea to use them as seed starters
Karolyn Landon
Bottom line, they still end up in a landfill.
kathy
Someone wrote above that they had checked and they are indeed Recyclable. 🙂
Lily
So do we, except the landfills are called cemeteries.
Christine Nichols
Pilgrim hats
Jaimi@TheStayatHomeMomSurvivalGuide
These are fantastic! What a great resource.
happyhooligans
Thanks so much, Jaimi! I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
cheryl Gale
Glue them inside of a tray to use to keep your jewelry in.
Rachelle
Congrats for being creative, really, but this is waste you can easily avoid by not buying those cups. An Italian coffee pot and some good fair trade beans, that’s all you need.
Lillian Tetley
I don’t have the coffee pot and I’m low income. My husband at the time was working at the church pantry and brought home extra food. One day he came home with several boxes of Keurig hot chocolate. I don’t drink coffee. The cups of chocolate he brought home make a cup of hot chocolate. I tried heating a cup of hot water in the microwave and then put in a small cup of keurig chocolate in the hot water. It was awesome. Instead of using milk I used marshmellow fluff. I had several boxes of just chocolate so it last me sometime. I’m still have some. I saw this on FB and saved it so I could see what it was all about. Two months later (long story) I’m still using them. I went on this website to find out what to do with them. I’m glad I did. I do crafts and sewing projects and now I know what I can do with the empties I saved. AND when you don’t have a machine for them there is no hole in the bottom. Since it is so close to Christmas I love the idea of the string of golden bells. Plus I have small great grandchildren and all I have to do is getting my mind working on things. I’m sure they would be great for little tea parties for the kids. Thank you very much.
Sharon Sandahl
I have a question. I LOVE the idea of reusing the cups. I saved a dozen or so, got the top off to throw the coffee grounds away, and found there was a filter to keep the grounds where they belong. How do you get the filter off the cup? It was stuck on pretty tight, I didn’t know how, so threw them away. I’d love to hear your ideas 🙂
happyhooligans
If you google it, you’ll find some instructions and video tutorials, Sharon.
Mary
You just have to use hot water and rip
the filter away
Sharon Hardy
The filter comes right out. Just tap the upside-down cup to remove as much of the grounds as possible, then grab the filter and pull. It peels right off the inside edge of the cup.
Cathy Schoen
someone mentioned maybe making something for Halloween. How bout putting 2 of them together and adding pipe cleaners as legs for a scary spider. or add several together to make a catapillar. or a centipede or any other kind of bugs. I bet the kids would think they would be cool to put on top of a halloween cake
Ingrid KLIMKE
I like to use them for planting…I fill them with fishtank stones and put my seeds on the edge of my tank with a clip. Letting the bottom hang into the tank and touching the water. I grow some herbs this way and it helps to keep the tank clean too. Happy Aquaponing…
Fawn
Oops, I threw away a bunch just recently. I will start throwing them in my recycle container.. What was I thinking!
I was saving to do something with them, but got in one of my “I am over it moods.”
Jim Cowan
Or, stop buying the cups altogether since you aren’t going to reuse them all. Instead, buy a metal reusable filter: http://www.amazon.com/Ekobrew-Stainless-Refillable-Keurig-Brewers/dp/B00859FH7O
Sara
I was thinking kids could make a rain chain out of them. Put a few more holes in the bottom, string them together a few inches apart and paint them silver or gold?
Grey
If anyone is saving K cups they have a serious problem! If you’re concerned your carbon footprint just get regular coffee and put it in the wire mesh basket that comes with the Keurig machine. Problem solved!
kathy
Yes, true……….but as long as people are going to use them and they will,
might as well find a way to use them 🙂
VivaE
Although I am happy to see people finding ways to repurpose the unnecessary amount of waste that comes from this machine, these suggestions are a real stretch. To suggest that these cups are in any way a learning tool for a child is pretty ridiculous and a poor way to educate your child, but more importantly these cups are a choking hazard. All the other suggestions are just silly and will create more waste and clutter in your home that I bet you will eventually throw out and there goes all that repurposing you did.
Making coffee is pretty darn easy folks. By using this machine you are wasting your money and creating large amounts of harmful waste. The grounds and filter used making coffee the traditional way have many more realistic uses, most of which will help you repurpose other things and will contribute to making the planet healthier. Look up used coffee grounds as a fertilizer and you will reevaluate your definition of repurposing. This blog post is not it.
Keurig is just a lazy and wasteful product. You’ll eventually throw it out and you won’t be able to repurpose it. With every pot of traditionally brewed coffee you can make real change with your waste. Repurposing is not a trend, it makes a difference and is necessary, a Keurig is not. These suggestions are not a solution mainly because this product is a problem.
happyhooligans
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Viva.
Betty M Gross
So is toilet tissue but I’m not going to stop using it. Silly comments on here. There is tons of waste it’s just a matter of how much. I only drink one cup of coffee a day and using a regular pot is a waste. This is my one luxury and one I don’t intent to give up.
Gretchen
I do the same. K-cups are only a small part of our waste problem.
Cheryl Pierce
Don’t forget to put the used coffee grounds on your compost pile! 🙂
Nannette
I hate to be a curmudgeon, but from the get go I thought this was such a wasteful item….do we really need such an appliance…?
Betty M Gross
Not wasteful for me. I wasted too much coffee using a regular pot for ONLY one cup of coffee. Also one could say a microwav, etc could be a waste. Silly
Betty M Gross
Do you really NEED a microwave. You suggesting we throw in the garbage everything we don’t need. Gosh people get a grip!
Cookie
If you belong to a group that has secret pals or secret sisters, Paint the cups and decorate with beads and ribbons or anything you have, then insert a message of encouragement or a small gift for your secret sister or pal, cut a circle of paper and glue around the edge of the cup to seal. Stuff seven and put a message of encouragement to be opened one a day for a week.
Dunn Pernsley
I have one more idea! How about you shove them up your a$$!
Only morons drink Keurig.
happyhooligans
Actually, Dunn, an intelligent human being would choose to express him or herself without resorting to profanities and name-calling. You probably have a very valid opinion, but unfortunately, in trying to express it, you’ve made yourself look like… a moron.
snuzypete
Amen happy hooligans…Dunn is a blooming idiot and judging by the comment is an uneducated fool. Dunn is without a doubt…the moron. Geesh!!!
Mary
But if you drink Tim Horton or Starbucks what do they use the cups for, trash that is landfill so if we can reuse the k cups for any reason is better
Evelyn Gilbert
I disagree with all the negative posts..I have an 8 year old granddaughter And she Always wants to create something..this is such a good idea. ..and just think of the quality time you can spend with you’re children and grandchildren. .it sure gets them away from television for a while…
Sissy
perfect size for ice cream/popsicle drips for little ones!! cut small slit in bottom to slide popsicle in… no drips on the carpet!! 🙂
Jenna
Lafarge uses used k-cups to power a cement plant and then puts the ashes into the cement. Totally recyclable.
susan
I gotta say it……how come no one has mentioned jello shots? For concerts, camping and picnics!!!
Brian Robinson
Great ideas! We recently released the Recycle A Cup cutter which allows you to cut and separate used K-Cup packs for reuse or recycling. If your audience is interested please visit http://www.recycleacup.com!
Shirley
I use them to start seeds in.
Susie
I use mine for holiday lighting decoration. paint pumpkin faces and. string with orange lights. paint with snowman faces and string with clear lights.
Monica
I like having my special coffee at home with out paying $4 or more a cup which is another waste also. For everyday coffee I use the refillable filters. Coffee grounds go in the garden. I am also a crafter. I am using them for little flower pots which uses the foil cover and the cup. The cup is decorated as a flower pot, the lid becomes part of my roses that I am making out of old window blinds. Nice little desk decorations. Not really that wasteful to the alternate cups and lids from a coffee shop. So for those who say they are a waste. They may be but to a creative mind they can become a treasure. They are a reusable seed starter. Reused as a learning tool for children also teaches them not to just to throw things away but find another use for them. No matter what we do we end up with waste it is more how we deal with it.
Witchypoo
Cut an “X” in the bottom of the cups and insert a candle to hold during a memorial ceremony. NO HOT DRIPS!! >^,^<
Margaret
I have used the K-cups as a ball and cup toy. Just place gimp through the hole and tie on a small bead. The children love to decorate the cup too.
Elaine
My grandchildren painted them and used permanent markers to decorate. We then put string/yarn through the holes with some beads for added glitz and hung them from an apple tree in their play area. Some had bells as ‘clangers’ and the wind would make them ‘tinkle’ from time to time. We had a couple of hundred of them and the kids loved them! Great project for preschoolers. I have pictures, but don’t know who to post here.
happyhooligans
Great idea, Elaine! You can share your photos on my Happy Hooligans facebook page if you’d like. I’d love to see them!
Darlene
I saved a bunch of them and the kids use them to make stacking towers!
mk
I don’t get it, why don’t you just use a scoop of coffee instead of using the plastic cups to begin with? Is it really that hard?
happyhooligans
Actually, MK, I have no idea. I make my coffee the old fashioned way too. I don’t own a Keurig. Some folks like the convenience of them I guess.
evelyn
I haven’t found any k cups with the filter in them. Could you tell me which kind has them?
Thanks
evelyn
happyhooligans
Sorry, Evelyn. I don’t own a Keurig. I get the cups from a friend. I’m not familiar with the difference in brands. Hopefully someone else will chime in here.
Vicki
Use K cups for individual condiments
Decorate, cut a slit and use for name card at table setting
Punch through hole and place on a string of Christmas lights to take camping or for patio
Use for small amount of ingredients when cooking
Dose of pills cup for someone I’ll.
Nonsensical banter
The concept and intent are good, but the reality is that only a few k-cups would be used for crafts, that will eventually end up in the garbage anyway, while the individual continues to use k-cups daily, still filling up landfills, etc.
happyhooligans
Very true. This post certainly wasn’t written with the intent to encourage someone to go out and buy a Keurig. It was simply written for those who have a stash of used K-cups and who are curious as to how they might re-use them.
Piper
Why do people waste their time reading and writing a reply if they are just going to be hater critics? I just don’t get it . . . I do appreciate the ideas for crafts, especially kids crafts. By the way, anyone who takes the time to craft and teach using any kind of hands on techniques is building a child’s imagination and creativity. Please don’t listen to the naysayers . . . Keep plugging along and supporting one an other.
Dan
OMG I LOVE these! I am going to use the card holder idea this weekend! Thats amazing! Thank you for this article!
happyhooligans
Glad you liked these ideas, Dan!
Georgia Boothe
I love your idea of using K-cups to store herbs! I love using fresh, home-grown herbs but like the convenience of the store-bought herbs. This seems like a great way to bridge the gap between! You could even fill the cups with different amounts of herbs and separate the various sizes into different baggies, so that you can make sure to have the right amount on hand for different recipes.
happyhooligans
Great idea, Georgia! I love fresh herbs too. I’m going to try my hand at growing them indoors this winter.
Jim
Just reuse them I get at least 3 cups from one.
Rebecca
I’ve used them as seed starters (love the pre punched draining hole)
, and DIY birdfeeder bouquets 😀 Here’s how;
Paint the cups any color (adding glue to the pain helps it stick to the plastic…), loop a pipecleaner at one end, and thread the long part through the hole in the bottom of the cup making a “Stamen and stem for your flower”. You can then also add a metal cupcake cup to stabilize the flower, and add additional pipecleaner “leaves”. Add birdseed to the coffee cup, and twist stems onto a branch of a tree 😀 <3
Village Bakery
Awesome post, Jackie! Keurig comes can be so wasteful. I’m glad you’ve found some great ways to repurpose them.
Kathy in Westminster, CO
Hi. I am a long time gardener and using coffee grounds in my garden and compost is priceless. I did however, switch to a different brand that uses a pod with a ring made from corn based byproducts. I let them accumulate and dry out and every couple months I sit in the evenings and cut out those precious grounds. The rings are compostable in an industrial compost facility which since I don’t have access to, I use them in the bottom of my planters for drainage. Every spring I remove the top six inches of my soil so they continue to provide drainage in the bottom. I have a lot of pots and raised beds and I feel good not using plastic or styrofoam for drainage.
Maria Mitchell
I love this idea ❤keep them coming ! Recycling is awesome ! Have a niceee evening
Dani
I used empty k cups for making snow bucket christmas ornaments
Jackie Currie
Those sound cute!
Pinzira
Thank u for the tip! I’v been wondering if I can do this since the first day we got the machine. I just tried it a few mins ago but I also placed piece of paper filter in it and it seems like water with coffee wasn’t going right. And when I opened the lid foil had too big hole. Will try it again without filter
Shami
For individual condiments, use K cups. Decorate, cut a slit, and use as a name card at the table setting
For camping or patio use, punch through the hole and attach a string of Christmas lights.
When cooking, use a small number of ingredients
I’ll give you a cup of pills for someone.
Jackie Currie
Great ideas, Shami!
Jacob I
Thank you for your post. I will implement your suggestions in my garden. I am a strong believer in recycling and saving our world
Rita
II love the liquid creamer but it always goes bad before I get halfway through since I am the only one that drinks coffee in my house. So, I keep my cups and fill each one with creamer and then sit them in a cake pan in the freezer and when they are frozen, I put them in a plastic freezer container and set them back in the freezer, Then, when I make a cup of coffee, I take one out of the freezer scoop the creamer our and add it to my cup. It is just the right amount, and it cools my coffee just enough to drink it right away. That way I don’t waste my creamer and it stays fresh.
Jackie Currie
What a smart idea, Rita!