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Creative New Uses for Plastic Ketchup Bottles

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Last Updated on July 9, 2015 by Diane Hoffmaster

What is the first thing you do after sticking the hotdog in the bun?  What do you do right before sticking the French fries in your mouth?   What is America’s number one favorite burger topping? That’s right…good old fashioned KETCHUP finds it’s way into a ton of our favorite meals.  I am pretty sure that my refrigerator has had plastic ketchup bottles in it continuously for the last 15 years at least!  With summer in full swing and hotdogs and hamburgers coming off the grill, what are we supposed to do with all those plastic ketchup bottles when they are empty?  Sure, you could recycle them.  But, what if there was some way you could reuse plastic ketchup bottles around the house?  I decided to find a few creative and frugal ways to reuse this seemly useless piece of plastic (check out my yogurt cup upcycling ideas for more tips!)!

Creative Ways to Reuse Plastic Ketchup Bottles

Creative New Uses for Plastic Ketchup Bottles

1.  Bathtub or pool toy:  Clean out your plastic ketchup bottles and give them to your kids for the bath tub or even as a pool toy.  Who needs to buy squirt guns when an empty squeezy bottle of ketchup will work just fine!

2. Batter pouring:  Making pancakes?  Store your batter in plastic ketchup bottles for easy dispensing into the frying pan.  You can get creative and draw Micky Mouse ears or smiley faces without dripping everywhere.

3.  Bird feeder: Turn your plastic ketchup bottles into a backyard bird feeder.  Check out this bird feeder on Pinterest for directions.

4.  Paint container:  If you don’t want to worry about dragging those big jugs of paint out for small painting projects, store your paint in plastic ketchup bottles.  Easy and drip free the next time your kid puts a scuff mark on your wall.

5.  Bowling pin game:  Let your kids decorate your plastic ketchup bottles and line them up like bowling pins.  Hand them a ball and let them spend some screen free time playing with friends.

6.  Refill with homemade condiments:  Homemade BBQ sauce, homemade mayo, a delicious marinade you use frequently, or even homemade salad dressing will all store well in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.  (okay, maybe not the mayo!)  Put your homemade condiments in plastic ketchup bottles for easy access.

7.  Homemade lotion container:  Homemade lotions are incredibly easy to make.  Store on the bathroom counter in a plastic ketchup bottle for easy one handed access to your lotion.

8.  Kids arts and crafts:  For inexpensive kids paints, buy powder tempura paints.  (<—affiliate link!) Mix paint with water and store the paint in plastic ketchup bottles.  Easy to open and use by little hands.

 Do you have any other uses for plastic ketchup bottles?

8 thoughts on “Creative New Uses for Plastic Ketchup Bottles”

  1. What creative ideas! I felt badly throwing away the container so will try a couple of these (especially the batter). Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  2. I use them in my RV for olive oil, canola oil, etc. I can squirt the amount I need easily. They are lightweight, which is a big plus and they don’t break easily. Now if I can just figure out how to make them look nice so I can leave them by the stove where I use them most.

    Reply
  3. These are all great ideas. Any suggestions for cleaning the plastic ketchup bottles before reuse? I’ve cleaned by hand with dishwashing liquid several times. Specifically do you know if the bottle or cap are dishwasher safe?

    Reply
    • I would say soak in hot soapy water and use a bottle brush on the inside. I don’t think the dishwasher would clean the inside very well. Hope you manage to get it clean!

      Reply

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