Monthly Upcycle Project: Rubermaid Totes Upcycle Two Ways

Happy almost December all! So since we are on the eve of December and all, it means it finally time to reveal my November Upcycle Project.

For November, I decided to finally use all the Rubbermaid Totes I have around the house. My mom used them to pack up my stuff when I went away to college and I've used them in every move since. (And they are a great thing to use when moving!) However, since I've moved in with Mike almost 4 years ago, we haven't moved. And we really have no intention of moving anytime soon. So I decided to start actually going through my things and start reusing them too!

Project 1: Outdoor Cat House

Instructions From Catster

So to make my cat shelter. I simply took my tote and cut a hole into on side of it 

Easy enough right?

To make it a little more homey and a lot more comfortable, I took two old towels and used the no sew blanket technique to create a couple of blankets for the house. One on top of the house and one inside the house.

Tom Cat quickly made it his home.

Now I just need to work on the outer layer so he's got some place warm for those few cold nights!

(He'll actually be moved back inside for those nights and the winter shelter will be available for any feral cat that needs it. Or any raccoon that stumbles upon it for that matter)

Project 2: Compost Bin

instructions from A Healthy Life For Me

Last time I wrote about my compost bin it looked like this

Which was fine for about the two weeks I had it before I had filled it completely with coffee grounds and a few avocado skins. And since it was so narrow I couldn't really stir it efficiently.

So I just left it for a while before eventually I started looking for a better solution. And that's when I found another empty Rubbermaid tote. Unfortunately I knew, that to use I was going to have to learn a drill. So it too sat for a little while before I finally asked Mike to teach me how to use a drill.

And boy did I have fun learning how to drill! (Not really, but now I'm not afraid of it. I still need to master drilling screws into the wall without the screws going sideways on me. But that is a challenge for another day!)

Afterwards, Blue had fun filling it with me. 

(He kept calling it Koko's Nest. Like we were building another shelter for our other cat.)

And once we filled it with, we moved it into the backyard where is will hopefully turn into compost. 

(I really haven't read up what's supposed to happen, but I know I'm going to need it whenever I move my garden outside)

And as for my old compost bin. It's not being used a compost collection bin. So I can store all my coffee grounds, avocado skins, egg shells, and etc. and move them into the big bin once a week or so.