Making a scoop from a plastic milk bottle

well goodness me how clever of you,

LOL, didn't realise it was hand made!

Thank you Yorkshire and Lulu glad you like my thrifty tip :-)

It's on my favs

Thats ingenious, how you spotted that I never would have seen it! I might pinch this idea for bird seed.

Thanks for another very handy tip Richard, keep them coming;0)

Thank you Yorkshire much appreciated

You are welcome Drc726...I have not patented it yet so you are quite safe to make one...lol ;-) My daughter uses one for her rabbit food :-)

Glad you like it PP :-)

Bravo Richard...excellent idea...:>)

excellent Richard that's a great idea..

Thank you Motinot and Surreylad glad you like it :-)

Do you have your Blue Peter Badge?

HAHA!! No Drc....I would like to say that I was in my pram when Blue Peter was on ...but I can't lie to you !! ;-)

I normally just cut at an angle to make a scoop with high sides, never thought of this, thanks, will make a note!

Thanks Fran - I never thought of your idea ..making a scoop with high sides...we make a good team don't we! :-)

I got my OH to get a large bottle of milk but the handle is on the corner lol.

It may still be possible to make a scoop from it though Drc..but drink the milk first....lol ;-))

Ha ha, I will wait till I get one like yours as it will not have a bend in it lol.

Great thinking Drc I hope you make many of them... :-)

and before you cut the empty carton, rinse it with water and then use that water on the plants; i read that it helps to feed them, I've been doing it for years and most plants seem not to mind too much.

lol I do have a Blue Peter Badge - a rare Competition Winner round metal badge. I got it by pinching it from my brother, who won it in a drawing competition. Wonder what it'd be worth at Sotheby;s??

I have been doing that too Fran rinsing and using the water on my plants I am sure it does them good. Well done with the Blue Peter badge. They have some for sale on Amazon and also this link may be useful too..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/blue-peter

You cannot possibly sell your ill gotten gains Fran it has to be passed on or should that be passed back lol

I've seen them on eBay - not with the intent of buying, or selling mine, just to get some idea of what it might be worth. Most of those wre shield-shaped and plastic, nothing to compare mine to. Never thought of looking on Amazon, will now though, for the same reason, so thanks for that link.

Used to be that if you had a Blue Peter badge, you'd get into some exhibitions etc for free, but I didn't find that out till I was in no position to go to exhibitions etc. Anyway, was in the news a while back that they're stopping that, as some people are buying Blue Peter badges for exactly that, to get into places for free. Tch! at least I got mine honestly, buy nicking it from my bro when we were both about twelve. He never missed it.

Well done Fran hope the Blue Peter badge gets you in many places..take care my friend :-)

Brilliant. I made a scoop in a similar way but I used the large part of the bottle, useful for filling small pots with compost. I shall copy your idea too, thanks.

Good idea Patfran I hadn't thought about doing that...I must try it out :-)

the only prob with making large scoops out of this thickness of plastic is that it do'nt like heavy loads much! so I ended up only half filling the scoop, so might as well have made a smaller one to start with. but this is one I'm going to make several of

Even the little scoop does tend to bend a little but at least it is ok to scoop up light things ..hope you find it useful Fran :-)

Definitely gonna make one of these for dispensing birdseed from sack to storage jars. Many thanks for sharing.

maybe a stiffer bottle: I've cut my washing fabric softener at an angle - no handle, but it's thicker plastic and the cap makes a good enough handle

Hope you find it useful Muddy thanks for you comment my friend.

Yes Fran it is a little on the flimsy side but would be ok for most things...good idea to use a thicker bottle.

Here is a great idea for using the bottle tops too as long as the plastic bag isn't too thick...

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf60431125.tip.html

I've added that to my favourites, and will go through it in detail, thanks for that, Richard - lol I'm a bit Blue Peter and have boxes of plastic containers that might "come in handy" for something, sooner or later!

Thanks Fran...I have a load of plastic bottles too. I used a little clear one yesterday. I cut it in two vertically for holding moss/earth when I air-layered one of my shefflera plants. I then taped it back together, so now I will be able to see the roots growing in there now ;-)

I'm saving the litre (I think - second size up) bottles - I'm going to pierce the botom and sides and put them in when I repot the plants: hope they'll work as "trickle" reservoirs so that water gets to the roots, rather than lying on top to evaporate before it soaks down. Of course, the trick is how big to make the holes! tried it before, with 5-litre water bottles in the raised beds at the DITO garden; too big, the water just escaped within minutes. But still, it got to root level and that was the object. Some of the ones I've tried with litre bottles, I seem to have made the hole too small; either that or the holes got clogged - some bottles don't empty at all, so no water's getting out.

Good idea Fran that should stop your repotted plants from drying out.
It is surprising how useful plastic containers can be in the garden and elsewhere.
I am always thinking of new uses for them...lol

I had thought about using them to fill space in a deep trough so it takes less soil ...

lol think we need "101 uses for an empty plastic milk bottle"

Yes Fran...they are so versatile :-)