We’ve had an email from Kevin:

What can I do with broken tiles? I’ve just retiled my bathroom and was careful taking the old ones off but most of them cracked in half.

I also have some whole sample tiles that I got from the supplier from when I was choosing. I’m going to use one of the big ones as a hot dish plate in the kitchen but don’t know what to do with the smaller ones.

Following on from your trivet idea, smaller sample tiles would make good coasters or a place to rest your wooden spoon while cooking – especially if they’re pretty or nicely coloured.

Depending on their condition, the cracked ones could be used to “crazy tile” somewhere that doesn’t need to look 100% (like a storage cellar or shed) or smashed up further for a crazy mosaic effect. Offer them on Freecycle if you don’t want to do it yourseld – someone else might like the idea.

(If you fancy renovating them for reusing, I’ve used a translucent glass paint thing to paint ceramic tiles in the past – it let the original gloss of the tile shine through but it wasn’t particularly hard wearing and couldn’t handle being scrubbed clean. Other tile paint is thicker so harder wearing but it can easily look messy and a bit weird because it’s opaque and gloopy. Anyone else got any advice about this?)

Aside from that, there is always crocks for the bottom of plant pots.

Any other ideas?

(Photo by ftibor)

We’ve had an email from Clare which is a kinda reverse this thing and a kinda ‘how can I recycle?’ thing:

My boyfriend has a huge collection of shot glasses in various shapes and sizes (he’s not a great drinker, so I don’t know where they came from!) I thought some of them would make great spice jars — but I need some lids for them.

Wine bottle corks are too small. I thought about begging Champagne corks from a local posh restaurant, soaking them to restore their tubular shape and carving them to fit. But I’m a danger to myself and those around me when using a scalpel.

Does anyone have any other ideas for making lids to fit shot glasses in a variety of shapes?

So … any ideas? I can’t think of anything other than those plastic lids you get for open tin cans – and they’d be too big and too ugly to use here.

Or any other suggestions for what Clare can do with the many shot glasses?

At the start of the year, we had an email from Matt about his parents turning old broken dishwashers into compost bins and we got thinking what else could be done with them.

Chez has just emailed to offer some further dishwasher recycling suggestions:

We recently bought a new dishwasher and the old one (which has served us well for 23 years) has been taken by the local scrap metal merchant, but before it was taken, I rescued the interior fittings.

The “drawers” are on rollers and have made excellent storage in the bottom of the wardrobe.

There were 3 removable plate racks which I am using for plate storage in my kitchen cupboards.

The removable cutlery basket is now by the computer with an assortment of pens, rulers etc in it.

Any other suggestions for the various fittings?

We’ve had an email from Jenni:

I have loads of little plastic SMA baby milk spoons from when my first child was a baby. I have now started making up bottles for my second child and realise the house will be full by the time we move on to cows milk. I can’t bring myself to throw them out. Any ideas?

I’m not exactly an expert with any baby related but I think Jenni means the little measuring scoop things that come inside formula tubs. Like IKEA allen keys, it’s a shame you get a new one with every repeat purchase when one or two is all you’ll ever need (or if you’ve got your own measuring spoon set, you won’t even need that) – but logistically it’s easier for them to include them than having to send them out separately or whatever.

I guess you could keep one around the kitchen for future measuring purposes – but that’s just one and Jenni sounds like she’s got loads. So any other suggestions?

(On a related topic, we covered mixed material baby milk powder containers about a year ago.)

• How can I reuse or recycle other baby related stuff?

We’ve had an email from Ashleigh, asking:

What can I do with old flat baking trays? They’re a bit rusty so we can’t use them for food anymore. Can they go in my green bin?

I’m not sure about the green bin because everywhere has different rules and it also depends what they’re made out of but the guys that collect scrap metal around here would probably take them.

As for reuses, the rust might come off with one of those metal scrubber things but it’ll obviously rust right up again if it gets wet a lot again – perhaps clean it up and paint it with some rust-preventing paint. If it’s got a lip all the way around the edge, it could then be used as tray under plants or for kids to use during messy craft session (the lip might help stop things spilling/spreading all over the place).

Any other suggestions? What about suggestions for trays that are completely flat or with just one raised edge?

(Photo (and craving for gingerbread caused) by Jenny Rollo)