15 Neat Ways to Repurpose Kitty Litter Containers
Updated on August 2, 2016
If you’re a cat owner, you know just how many tubs of cat litter it takes to care for your kitty in a month. For most brands, those tubs are made of good plastic with sturdy lids and handles. We always find that getting rid of the tubs at the end of the month feels wrong, as though we’re wasting precious crafting resources! Even if you recycle the tubs, you’re still letting go of quality containers that have a lot of DIY potential.
Instead of letting your kitty litter tubs go, why not upcycle them into crafting projects and home storage? Check out these 15 awesome DIY projects that will put your cat’s litter tubs to good use!
1. Painted kitty litter planters
Artist Cassie Stephens shows you how gorgeous a simple plastic litter tub can be with the help of a coat of paint and some flowers! Making yourself custom planters is as easy as you are creative. Remove the lids and paint the tubs however you please, then use them to display your favourite flowers on the porch!
2. Labeled toy boxes
Are you looking for easy storage solutions for the kids’ play room to help them keep things organized and up off the floor? Take a leaf out of Scrappin’ Danielle‘s book by helping your kids decorate the outsides of the boxes with construction paper, wrapping paper, paint, or crafting plastic, then make labels for each tub. The more fun the tubs look, the more likely your kids will be to actually use them!
3. Bicycle baskets
Do you like to ride your bike most places rather than paying bus fare or gas? Bike riding is a great idea environmentally and health wise, but it’s not always practical for things like grocery shopping. Lifehacker, however, has a solution for that! They show you how to attach a kitty litter tub on each side of your rear wheel to give your bike extra storage space that’s great for shopping or carrying your work clothes.
4. Travel cooler for tailgate parties
Do you love throwing impromptu patio parties in the summer and often find that it’s easier to set out coolers than to have people traipsing back and forth through your kitchen repeatedly to grab a cold beer? Largo suggests painting a kitty litter tub with a fun pattern, picture, or logo and filling it with ice to give yourself an extra drink cooling station for those occasions when your guests bring a few extra friends!
5. Automatic pet feeder
Do you free feed your cats and prefer that they always have a good supply of dry food on hand for when you’re at work? Lifehack shows you how to turn an empty kitty litter tub into an automatic feeder that, as long as you keep the top filled, will make sure your pets always have a snack ready, even if you have to work late one day this week.
6. Recycling bins
Are you quite meticulous about the way you sort and recycle your family’s waste? Whether you do it because your city has certain requirements or because you like to live as green as possible, kitty litter tubs with lifting lids can help you out! Choose as many tubs as the number of recycling categories you want and label them with stickers or a patch of chalkboard paint and some chalk, just like Family Handyman did here. Even just the act of reusing your littler tubs is an act of recycling!
7. Fabric bins for sewing projects
There’s No Place Like Homemade suggests using tall kitty litter tubs to store yards of fabric in an organized way that keeps them unwrinkled and neat. Consider cutting a strip of each fabric to tape to the outside of the tub it’s stored in so you can find things easily.
8. Stacking garage storage
Garage shelving is often affordable and easy to set up, but you’ve probably noticed by now that we’re big fans of anything that can be made from recycled materials in the place of buying something new. Instead of heading over to Ikea to buy a shelf for all the bike helmets and rollerblading knee pads cluttering your garage, build a series of cubbies from saves kitty litter tubs! Get the full instructions for it on Instructables.
9. Litter jug yarn and craft storage
UpcycledStuff suggests using kitty litter tubs to store craft supplies of all kinds, including yarn for knitting or crochet! These tubs are especially good for storing yarn because the size of most skeins is perfect for stacking inside the standard tub size.
10. Nautical tote bucket
Do you feel like really transforming your latest empty litter tub into something much cuter? We absolutely adore this nautical tote bucket from The Kim Six Fix, made by wrapping rope around the bucket from top to bottom and stenciling an anchor on the surface. This nautical bucket is perfect for things like magazine storage in your home or taking food on the go that has to lay flat so it doesn’t spill.
11. Stacked chicken nesting boxes
Savvy Housekeeping knows the value of being able to upcycle for money saving purposes when you live on a farm, so they suggest tipping kitty litter buckets on their sides to make chicken nesting boxes! The more litter boxes you save, the more of your chickens will have a cozy place to sleep without you paying for more expensive options.
12. Recycling and composting tubs
Think of It As An Adventure knows that buying fancy composting tubs for underneath your sink isn’t always a good investment. All you’re going to do is get it dirty, and no one will ever see it anyways! Kitty litter tubs work just as well.
13. Cute fabric covered storage tub
Sometimes you just need a tub for organizational purposes. Perhaps you need somewhere to put all your makeup or a small box for your kids’ drawing supplies to go in. Using a kitty litter tub is a great idea, but just because you’re upcycling doesn’t mean you have to use it regularly with the logo and brand name sticking out! Check out how Dunmore Crochet Corner covered this box in cute scraps of fabric and buttons to make your storage a little cuter!
14. Outdoor “on the go” toy box
One of the best parts of upcycled kitty litter tubs is that they almost all have a sturdy handle that’s used to bearing a lot of weight. This makes it perfect for upcycling in ways that involve hauling it around a lot. Upcycled Stuff suggests labeling an empty kitty litter tub as an outdoot toy box for more heavy duty toys that your kids might want to use in different places, like their toy cars and trucks.
15. Wire or cord spool
as15 suggests cutting down the sides of a kitty litter container and fitting a large cord spool in the top so that it sits horizontally. This helps keep the cord (or hose, because it would work well for that too) in place without letting it unravel or get tangled.
Do you know a crafty person with a cat or two who’s always buying litter? Share this post with them so they know how much crafting and DIY possiblity each of those tubs brings them!
Storage: I use litter buckets to store potting soil, birdseed, dry dog/cat food, fire logs the 4 hour kind, salt for side walks , yarn, charcoal, my homemade laundry soap, store silk flowers. Store building blocks and small toys for kids,old towels for car wash or animals bath time. Transport ice bags to party in them and not worry about leakage. They label and they stack neatly in garage. I have drilled small holes in bottom and using them to water by trees/plants in garden this year trying to save some water.