Happy Birthday - Let's Recycle

My birthday was last week (yay!) and I was blessed with so many amazing gifts, cards, texts and phone calls from my loved ones.  One of my very favorite gifts was a surprise subscription to Birchbox from Patrick.  Lucky me!!!!  

If you aren't familiar with Birchbox, just sit right down and let me tell you all about it: every month, a cute little box arrives at your door filled with samples of various beauty or wellness items.  So - basically, you'll receive a birthday gift in the mail every month.  To personalize your box, fill out a profile on the website about your beauty routine, skin, and hair type.

My May package included: 

- Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Overnight Detox Oil 

- Pixi 'Coral Crush' Shea butter lip balm ~ so pretty!

- Supergoop SPF 30 sunscreen 

-Whish Acai Grapefruit shaving cream ~ smells amazing

- SmartyPants All-in-one gummy vitamins ~ yum!

I seriously love everything about it - even the packaging.  Look how cute the inside of this box is! 

Instead of tossing it in the recycling bin, I was determined to find another use for it.  

Currently, I'm using the lid as a tray to collect little odds and ends on my bedside table.

Its kind of like two birthday gifts in one.
Fun fact: the black bowl was smuggled out of some unsuspecting restaurant by my husband in a leftover container, sooo...I suppose we can consider that recycled as well....
(Raw Mineral Necklace Tutorial)

Packaging and gift wrap can create so much waste, every little bit of recycling and re-purposing helps.
If you're feeling especially creative, here is an older post about using the tissue and ribbon from Victoria's Secret bags to make pomanders.

Pink tissue pomanders