30 Genius Ways to Reuse and Repurpose Empty Pill Bottles

My friend has a condition that requires her to take quite a lot of medicine; when I was at her house the other day I discovered a rather shocking stash of empty pill bottles.

I was glad that she hadn’t simply tossed them, contributing to the plastic problem we have, but my-oh-my was there a lot of them!

She knew that there was some way that she could upcycle or repurpose all her bottles but never really got far enough to do anything with them.

So I decided to make it my mission to find some helpful new uses for her stash, and I’d just love to share my findings with the rest of you.

What to do with empty pill bottles

Jump to:

• What to do with empty pill bottles
• Hide-a-Key
• Candle Holder
• Makeup Organizer
• Love Prescription
• Jewelry Holder
• Piping Tip Organizer
• Fire Starter
• Travel-Sized Shampoo
• Cotton Swab Container
• Rainbow Crayons
• Portable Sewing Kit
• Bobby Pin Storage
• Survival Kit
• “Bamboo” Vase
• Center-Pull Yarn Ball
• Snowman
• Vitamin Packs
• Light Garland
• Nail Polish Removal
• Coin Holder
• Child-Proof Container
• Tooth Holder
• Handbag Trash Can
• Earphone Container
• Jewelry
• Seed Storage
• Grow Magnet
• Interesting Lamp
• Single Flower Vase
• Cat Toy

Hide-a-Key

Hiding a key in your mailbox or under the welcome mat is way too obvious – those are the first places potential robbers would look. If you really are worried about accidentally locking yourself out (guilty!), hide a spare one in a pill bottle with a rock glued to the top of the lid. No one will be the wiser. Just make sure you remember which rock to look for!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – ZakkaLife

Candle Holder

You can make a fantastic candle holder by painting and gluing together a few bottles of different heights and shapes. It makes a fabulous centerpiece with tealight candles; no one would ever guess what you made it from!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Allthatscrap

Makeup Organizer

You’ll find the size of prescription pill bottles make them perfect for your beauty products and tools, like your brushes, eyeliners and mascara. Keep your dresser nice and tidy with this little trick.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – LauraThoughts

Love Prescription

This is a cute and cheesy idea for Valentine’s Day or whenever you just want to cheer up your other half or a close friend. Fill the bottle with their favorite candy and write a funny little prescription for them.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – CookBake&Decorate

Jewelry Holder

If you’re going traveling or even just staying over at a friend’s place, keep you small rings and earrings safe in one of these containers. I like to be prepared, so I always end up lugging too much jewelry around; maybe this will help!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – TheBeautyBlog

Piping Tip Organizer

Here’s on for all you bakers. Since piping tips aren’t all that cheap, you need to keep them both safe and organized. I absolutely love this idea since you can number then on the lids so that you know exactly what’s what.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – TheBearfootBaker

Fire Starter

Some petroleum-jelly-soaked cotton balls stuffed in an empty pill bottle will make an excellent firestarter when you or your kids go off camping or hiking in the woods. Make sure not to actually burn the pill bottle – burning plastic is not good for the environment.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – MomWithAPrep

Travel-Sized Shampoo

You don’t want to take massive bottles of shampoo, conditioner and lotion when travelling or camping, so save some space in your bag by filling up your empty pill bottles. Genius!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – TheBeautyBlog

Cotton Swab Container

Q-tips, or cotton swabs, fit perfectly into a regular-sized prescription pill bottle; it seems like such an obvious match! This is great for traveling, or even just keeping around the house in each of the bathrooms.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – TheBeautyBlog

Rainbow Crayons

If you have a little kid then you’re sure to have a bunch of broken crayons – the thin shape seems to be just too easy for toddlers to snap.

Instead of wasting those broken pieces, melt them into a pill box to make these awesome rainbow crayons; the bigger size will suit your little tots so much better.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Momtastic

Portable Sewing Kit

I have been saved on more than one occasion thanks to my friend keeping a mini sewing kit in her handbag. I actually used to make fun of her for it, but now I’m thinking I should make one to keep in the glove compartment of my car. You never know when you’ll need some thread, needles, pins, safety pins and buttons!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – ClipWithPurpose and FromGlitterToGumdrops

Bobby Pin Storage

Like most women, I’ve probably bought a million bobby pins in my life, and, like most women, I probably only have about 10 in my house right now. Keep them from going missing by keeping them in your empty bottle – it’s also great for keeping in your handbag.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – TheBeautyBlog

Survival Kit

You never want to think that you’ll be in a position where you’re lost in the woods, but if you’re a regular outdoors(wo)man, then this handy little kit could very well save your life, or at the very least, save you some pain or infection. I’m truly amazed at just how much can fit into that small bottle!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – SurvivalAtHome

“Bamboo” Vase

I love this project because it reminds me of just how creative people can be; who would’ve thought that stacking empty pill bottles could result in this cool bamboo-looking vase?

I’d suggest giving it a paint job to make it look more realistic.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – MichLInLA

Center-Pull Yarn Ball

Here’s a way to save all you knitters and crocheters from buying an expensive ball winder. Wrapping your yarn around your empty pill bottle will help create that center gap. It’s a real lifesaver!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – IAlwaysPickTheThimble

Snowman

Turn your empty bottles into cute little snowmen for Christmas! This is a great craft for the kids to get involved; you can set them on your mantelpiece, in the kids’ rooms or even hang them from the tree.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – CraftingAGreenWorld

Vitamin Packs

Personally, I’m not a fan of taking too many vitamins and supplements, but I know many people who swear by it. If you’re going away, don’t lug all those big bottles around with you, just use your empty pill bottles for their intended purposes: carrying pills! Seems pretty obvious, right?

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – TheBeautyBlog

Light Garland

If you’ve got quite a few empties you can give your LED string lights more of a subtle amber glow by using the orange pill bottles and mini lamp shades. If it looks a bit too obvious for your liking and you want to hide what they really are, take off the lids and cover with something like little craft flowers, butterflies etc.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – CraftingAGreenWorld

Nail Polish Removal

Need to get that chipped nail polish off in a hurry before you head off to work? Turn your old pill bottle into a handy helper by stuffing some cotton balls soaked in nail polish remover. You just need to dip each finger in and twist.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – WhoKnew?Tips

Coin Holder

When it comes to coins I don’t know how much money I’ve lost in my life, but I’ll bet it’s a rather sizable amount that I could’ve spent on something incredible. So instead of losing coins in that black hole of a handbag, in the couch, under the car seats or wherever else coins disappear to, make use of a perfectly-sized empty pill bottle.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – WDWPrepSchool

Child-Proof Container

Since these bottles have that handy child-proof feature, it makes them the perfect storage containers for anything that you wouldn’t want the kids to get their hands on, like sharp pins, beads or any other small items that could be swallowed.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – ThriftyFun

Tooth Holder

This one’s really cute if you’re a mommy with children who still believe in the tooth fairy. Slipping into their room and trying to sneak out the tooth from under their pillow is actually quite a task, so why not make this cute little holder instead? It’s easier on the “tooth fairy”, and she can leave her financial trade in there.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – AboutHome

Handbag Trash Can

A woman’s handbag can easily turn into a bottomless pit of useless trash, making it so much harder to find the actual useful stuff. So this little idea is so damn handy and clever: use an empty pill bottle to store all the candy wrappers, receipts and who knows what else until you get to a trash can. It’s just big enough to hold it all, yet not too big that it takes up too much space.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – ModPodgeRocks

Earphone Container

One of those small but significant frustrations in life is broken on tangled earphones – I know this from experience since I usually just toss them carelessly into my bag. Save yourself the irritation by keeping yours safe in an empty pill bottle!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Pinterest

Jewelry

I would honestly never have thought of cutting up the plastic bottle to make jewelry, and I’d also never expect it to actually come out looking pretty instead of tacky! Once you get started and let the creative juices flow, I’ll be there’s a lot of pretty pieces to be made.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – LilacPop

Seed Storage

If you’re need to keep your seeds safe during the wintertime, an empty pill bottle should be just the right size to store them until it’s time to get planting.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – SlightlySteady

Grow Magnet

This is a fun one for the kids—almost a bit of an experiment—because they’ll be able to watch the roots and plant grow through the transparent pill bottle. Once the plant has outgrown its little container you can also show the kids how to transplant it to a bigger pot.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – AboutHome

Interesting Lamp

This is a cool little project because it seems so random and out of the ordinary – a modern-looking lamp made from reused pill bottles (the larger size will work best). This would look great simply hanging on a wall as an interesting feature.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Instructables

Single Flower Vase

I love this idea because not only is it really easy, but the simple elegance of it is what’s so attractive. You can make a whole bunch of these and scatter them across a mantelpiece or group them together as a table centerpiece.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – ForTheLove

Cat Toy

Some beans or dry rice and jingle bell in an empty pill bottle can make the best DIY toy for your kitty.

You can even knit a little cover for it so that your beloved cat can claw at it all day long. I’d suggest hiding it at night if you’re a light sleeper!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit – AboutHome