Good to the Last Drop (a thrifty project)

I am well-stocked with lotions and creams.  My hubby hit a sale after Christmas, and brought home some of my favorite flavors ummm, scents.  It's fun to have a bunch of different ones to choose from.  In making a place for them, I realized that I had a couple rather old tube-style creams.  They were ones that I couldn't bear to part with because -- well, it just didn't seem that I could get all of the cream out, and it was one of my favorite fragrances!  It felt wasteful to discard them.

The other night, I noticed the tubes on my dresser, and got a brainstorm.  Why not cut them open, and use a spatula to get the cream out?  Sounded like a plan.  Now, I just needed a small container to put it in.

It just so happens that back in the fall, my hubby and I got these adorable little mini-masons on clearance for cheap at the grocery store.  Perfect.

So, here's what I needed:  the cream tubes, containers as needed for each fragrance, kitchen shears, and a small spatula.  (I used a metal one.)

It's not rocket science, but here's what I did:

I started by cutting the very end of the tube off.  The tubes were pretty much suctioned close because I'd squeezed all of the cream to the bottom, so I slipped the spatula into the opening to pry the sides apart.  Then, I scraped the walls of the tube.  It didn't look like much was in there, but I was amazed at how much cream I ended up with! (Gosh - this sounds like surgery or something!)

When the walls of the tube were pretty clean, I cut down further, so that I had better access to the very bottom of the tube.  Since they had been standing up, a good bit of cream had pooled there.  Again -- I got more than I'd imagined I would.  I had a second tube with even more leftovers, so I ended up with a mini-mason full of Cucumber-Melon cream.  My kitchen smells of it as I write this -- yum.  Smells like a spa.  Okay -- smells like I imagine a spa would smell (never having been at one).

I'm a happy camper!  I'll be able to use this up, and it'll be good... to the last fragrant drop.

Oh -- and I couldn't resist one last thing... cutting a circular bit of the plastic tube, and inserting it under the jar lid.  It takes this project from plain to pretty, and gives a little indication of what's inside the jar.