Need Micro-Storage for Your Small Items? Recycle Time!

Imagine this. My funds for play stuff has dwindled in recent years. I have had to - gasp! - cut back on my doll spending. Oh no! Oh yes. Sigh. I still have over 600 DAFs in spite of recent sales; and yes, that quantity of figures needs to be corralled. My DAF Room seems clogged with dolls I want, action figures I adore, accessories I need and lots of stuff that I can actually spare. Storage options help manage this collection. And ready-made storage options that won't absorb your doll and action figure collecting funds ... well, that's like found money.

My priority is to buy the DAFs, then sometimes outfits and/or accessories for them. Expensive micro storage pieces - while nice - are NOT particularly first on my list. So I need to be more creative in my storage choices.

How so? Well, let's start with recycled plastic covers and clear boxes that housed dolls or action figures I have deboxed. Surely Mattel and Hasbro and other companies would LOVE to know that they have given us a bonus in the packaging. That's why they make all those clear "windows," etc. For the savvy consumer, hmmm? Right.

The empty tall, mostly clear Fashion Fever tubes can hold tall objects like fishing rods, microphones, swords, rolled up posters, etc. Bodiless heads, etc. Less mess already. Plus, I can "see" what I have. Similarly, the clear plastic covers for the 12" pegboard G.I. Joes make neat shallow bins. I have plastic doll purses and backpacks in one of those.

Don't let us forget the plastic mini bin for wet wipes. I LOVE these. Easy open, easy close. You get this neat "snip" sound for free! (Who can pass up special sound effects like that?!) I have retained almost every one I nabbed. One large aqua one, I use for my toddlers' clothes and accessories. The more usual size, I use for accessories like shoes, food items, and other items. They can be covered with fabric or papier mache, etc. to individualize them or to identify the contents.

Other packaging can also be used for new purposes. You can give these pieces a Second Life. You can rescue them from landmines. Well, ideally, before they reach the landmines ;-D

Here some samples ... hope you enjoy seeing them!

Re-use Plastic Boxes for DAF Collector Organizing

As I was deboxing my dolls for Project Emigration aka Refining the Collection, I noticed that the clear plastic boxes used for My Scene and other Barbie dolls and the clear plastic tubes used for the pre-Hobbit bodied Fashion Fever dolls could be re-used to hold items. I like the tubes for holding heads and accessories - separate, of course - and the boxes for holding bodies.

Aside: why do I have head tubes and body boxes? Sigh. I don't always like the head-body union that manufacturers provide. So I find a more suitable body and set aside the original body. Oops, got an extra head there. Or I want the doll to have more pose-ability so I body-swap. A discard body there. Solution: head tubes and body boxes.

These plastic boxes and tubes allow me to see what I have better than if I put the parts in an everything drawer or box. Plus, I can tuck them aside so that they aren't in my way when I don't need them. I don't have to buy organizing stuff and waste doll/action figure/accessory funds. I re-use stuff that would otherwise fill landslides.

Here's a photograph showing my new organizing aids:



I'm a happier collector ... and I didn't have to buy a thing.

Practical and Creative Re-use for Twist Ties

I've listed web addresses to sites that use DAF packaging for settings and furniture for our figures. The writer-creators at those websites usually use boxes. What about the ever present twist ties? Are there other uses for them? Yes, there are. The following sites discuss twist tie uses:

Twist Ties: The Recycler's Dream Device


25 Creative and Useful Uses for Twist Ties

However, please note that using twist ties to bind computer cords can cause problems. Read the two responses against this use on this page:

Twist ties Bad Idea for PC Wire Management

An even more creative use for twist ties is recycling art. Some artists use "used goods" as their medium. I have sent an email query to one recycling artist who uses twist ties; I am waiting to hear the response before I mail off a batch of freshly removed ties.

I might check local websites for additional recycling artists. If they can use some of the packaging, that re-use could reduce waste volume and sanitation worker workloads as well as ease the conscience of "green" DAF collectors.

Recycling and the Collector

This post was inspired by a ModernWizard query/comment.

What materials annoy DAF collectors? Plastic inserts, styrofoam, and wire twist ties. We love the protection - everyone wants to get an intact doll or action figure. After we remove the doll or figure, we are left with packaging. Packaging and how to get rid of it. Responsibly. Time to breakdown the box, separating the cardboard from the clear plastic and/or any styrofoam. Hoping that the trash collectors will take the separated materials. Putting the separated materials in a large, dark plastic bag if/when the trash collectors are on a "garbage only" tour and then a litterer adds food to the recyclables. Grrr ...

Collectors, we have an alternative. And I don't mean putting everything in a large, dark plastic bag the first time. We can recycle our packaging junk by re-using it.

I don't have any recycling projects, but I know of at least three websites where you can find inspiring new uses for DAF packaging. Please see these links:

C. Bradford Gorby's 1:6 Scale Diorama Creations

and

J. Steven York's "Thinking inside the Box" post dated Tuesday, September 02, 2008

and

DollDivas Dioramas

You can also check archives of online boards like Men With Dolls or One Sixth Warriors for customized furniture and structures.