Fabulous Foam-From Egg Carton To Elegance

Using one pink styrofoam  egg carton  I made an unbelievable number of decorations. I washed the carton in hot water using clothes detergent to remove any bacteria.   First I cut the lid off of anegg carton. With regular scissors I cut strips 1/8 th to about 1/4th inch wide the entire length of the outer edge of the lid. I avoided  the part of the lid with the add printed on it. I was able to get 12 long strips from either side of the lid. They are approximately 12 inches long. I arranged them in a unique green collector type wine bottle from Italy. The bottle has a lovely handle one one side  and a pour spout. The pink arrangement is very festive and colorful. This would look especially great decorating for a shower or birthday party.     Next cutting away the sections of the egg carton lid that has printing on it, I was left with enough pink lid to make a larger quantity of strips about 3 inches long Turned upside down, a gold plastic lid from my spray paint I used on other projects would make  a perfect small vase for arranging these 3 inch tapered strips in. As I was cutting I realized that 4 raised areas which hold the egg carton shut would make delicate flowers. Cutting the same tapered strips  I left the small scoops on the strips and tapered them slightly, arranging them among the tapered strips. I achieved a lovely flowers centerpiece.!!!     I had the bottom half of the egg carton left over. I am always needing more storage for my costume jewelry. I placed rings and earrings and dress pins in each section, which I will now store in the drawers of my dressing table. So much easier to see at a glance than all jumbled together in a jewelry box. This will also prevent my jewelry from scarring and scratching as often happens to jewelry stored all together. And the pastel pink color is quite lovely.     Collecting remnants  of the carton,the part that had writing on it, I cut out 2 separate rectangular shapes withe the word STAR printed on them. There was also a pretty star on the advertising on the carton. I will use these 3 pieces as decoration on gift packages.     The remaining scraps of the egg carton that had advertisements printed on it, I cut into strips tapering the ends, realizing I could place these word side down on gift packages, splaying (fanning) them out in a decorative pattern.    I had one piece left that was cut and splayed apart but still held together on one end......Aaah another package decoration!!! I had to laugh because it was unbelievable how much could be usefully recycled from one simple regular dozen size egg carton.    This shows just one great example of how much we waste when we send so many recyclable products to fill up our landfills. Not to mention  the obvious treasures we'd be missing out on!!!!