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22 Clever Pill Bottle Crafts and Reuse Ideas You’ll Actually Use

ByJessica Knowles Reading Time: 10 minutes

From fire starters to seed storage, discover 22 pill bottle crafts and reuse ideas that turn empty containers into something useful and fun.

A collage of creative pill bottle crafts, including Halloween potion bottles, a decorated pincushion sewing kit, painted storage containers, a hide-a-key disguised with a rock, labeled seed storage jars, and pill bottles mounted for battery storage.

I do my best to rely on herbal remedies around here, but I’ll be honest… plastic pill bottles still sneak in now and then. And since I hate tossing things (seriously, it makes me twitchy), I’ve gotten pretty good at finding new uses for old containers. At this point, I’m probably an upcycling addict. But honestly, there are worse habits to have.

So when I found myself staring at a mountain of empty pill bottles, I hopped on Pinterest for inspiration. (If you’re not following me there, you should. It’s where I stash all my harebrained homestead ideas.)

Here are some of my favorite ways to repurpose pill bottles: some practical, some just for fun.

#1 Fire Starters

Pill bottles make easy little fire starters. I’ve seen people call this a fun project to do with kids… I’m not sure my crew qualifies as calm enough for that, but if you’ve got responsible kids, this could be a good bonding project. Stuff them with cotton balls or dryer lint dipped in wax and they’ll catch fast, even if the wood’s a little damp.

Three orange prescription pill bottles with white caps filled with cotton balls, ready to be used as DIY fire starters.
DIY fire starter project using pill bottles. Image credit: Mom Prepared.

#2 Hide-A-Key

Make a cheap, quick hide-a-key by gluing a rock or pinecone to the lid. I can’t promise it’ll last forever outside, but since it costs basically nothing, replacing it now and then doesn’t hurt. Pro tip: pick a spot that blends in naturally and rotate locations so it’s not too obvious.

Hand holding a pill bottle with a rock glued to the lid, tucked among outdoor landscaping stones as a hidden key holder.
Hide-a-key pill bottle project. Image credit: Thrifty Fun.

#3 Travel Bottles

These bottles are just the right size for shampoo, conditioner, and lotion when traveling. I’m pretty sure they meet airline liquid rules, but double-check before you pack so you’re not stuck tossing them at security. I slap some painter’s tape on them so I’m not stuck guessing which one’s conditioner halfway through a shower. Permanent marker (it turns out) isn’t actually permanent.

Orange prescription pill bottle with white cap shown as a travel-size container for shampoo, conditioner, or lotion.
Travel toiletries made from pill bottles. Image credit: BuzzFeed.

#4 Portable Sewing Kit

Turn a pill bottle into a mini sewing kit with a bit of thread, a needle, and a few buttons. Bonus points if you glue a tiny pincushion to the lid. I like keeping one in the car for those “oops, lost a button” moments. Toss in a couple safety pins, too. They’ve saved me more times than the needle and thread.

Prescription pill bottle decorated with fabric and trim, topped with a pincushion and sewing needles to make a portable sewing kit.

#5 Survival Kit

My outdoorsy boyfriend has made about twenty of these survival kits, and they live in every glove box, backpack, and tackle box he owns. I’ll admit, they’ve saved the day more than once on hikes. Think waterproof matches, a bit of fishing line, and a couple of bandages (the kind of little things that feel huge if you’re stuck outside).

#6 Crafting Storage

These little bottles are perfect for craft odds and ends: cake piping tips, beads, needles, paper clips, safety pins. I use them to keep the gems from my diamond painting kits corralled, too. A quick label on the lid makes it easy to know what’s inside without digging through a drawer.

Four pill bottles decorated with colorful paper and stickers, numbered 0–3, used for holding piping tips by size.
Decorated pill bottles for kids’ crafts. Image credit: The Bear Foot Baker.

#7 Halloween Decor

Spray paint a few bottles and turn them into Halloween potion bottles. I made some last year for the mantle, and they were a hit! Just the right touch of spooky to mix in with my pumpkins. A ring of hot glue around the cap gives you that old ‘wax seal’ vibe if you really want to go all in.

Five pill bottles transformed into spooky potion bottles with dark paint, bark tops, and carved labels like “Raven” and “Newt.”
DIY Halloween potion bottles from pill bottles. Image credit: Magia Mia.

#8 Snowman Ornament

Not into spooky? Use them to make winter snowmen. My youngest once built an entire snowman village out of pill bottles. Did they clash with my vintage Christmas village? Yep. Did I still display them? Absolutely. Paint sticks better if you rough up the plastic with sandpaper first.

White pill bottle decorated as a snowman with a black hat, green felt scarf, stick arms, and button details.
Snowman ornament made from a pill bottle. Image credit: Crafting a Green World.

#9 Rainbow Crayons

Use pill bottles as molds for rainbow crayons. Extra credit if you’re also upcycling broken crayons. (Yes, I hoard broken crayons too. Don’t judge.) Just remember the bottles aren’t oven-safe. Melt the crayons first, then pour them in.

Three pill bottles filled with layers of melted crayon wax in rainbow colors, used as molds for homemade crayons.
Rainbow crayons made with pill bottles. Image credit: Momtastic.

#10 Unique Vase

Nest pill bottles together and you’ve got yourself a faux bamboo vase. The vacuum seal makes them watertight without glue (bonus science lesson included). Wrap them in jute or give them a coat of paint and they actually look pretty classy.

Two stacks of pill bottles arranged like bamboo vases, each holding cut plant stems on a windowsill.
Faux bamboo vase made from pill bottles. Image credit: Mich L. in L.A.

#11 Nail Polish Remover

Make a quick nail polish remover tub: stuff a pill bottle with cotton balls and pour in acetone. It’s way less messy than pouring from the bottle, and you’ll waste less polish remover too. Cut a sponge to size and swap it in if you want that salon-style dip jar.

Bottle of nail polish remover being poured into a pill bottle stuffed with cotton balls, next to a cotton ball on a bathroom counter.
DIY nail polish remover tub using a pill bottle. Image credit: The Krazy Coupon Lady.

#12 Ammo Storage

Pill bottles keep ammo dry and organized. Around here, those bottles get tucked into an old Christmas cookie tin in the gun cabinet. Sadly, it’s not cookies. Toss in a silica packet and it’ll stay dry even longer.

Prescription pill bottle filled with rifle ammunition, shown beside a green military-style container.
Ammo storage using pill bottles. Image credit: Survival Monkey.

#13 Yarn Baller

Knitters and crocheters, this one’s for you. Use a pill bottle to make a center-pull yarn ball so your skein doesn’t roll across the floor. Before my friend gifted me a “real” yarn ball winder, this trick saved my sanity. Drill a hole in the cap for the yarn to thread through. It keeps the tension nice and steady.

Hands pulling yarn through a hole in a pill bottle cap while winding a center-pull yarn ball.

#14 Ink Dauber

You can even make ink daubers. At first, I had no idea what those were (BINGO night, maybe?), but it turns out scrapbookers use them too. Glue a bit of felt on the bottom and you’re good to go for stamping or blending.

#15 Coin Storage

Need a spot for quarters? Toss them in a pill bottle coin holder and stash it in the glove box. Handy for car washes, vacuums, or laundromats. (Not that I’d know. My kids swipe my change before I get to it.) Adding a slit in the lid makes it a mini piggy bank for kids.

Red and blue pill bottles decorated with cartoon character stickers, used as fun coin storage containers for kids.
Coin storage bottles decorated for kids. Image credit: WDW Prep School.

#16 Party Lights

I’ve seen pill bottles turned into quirky amber-colored party lights. I’m not sure when you’d use them. Maybe at a med school graduation party? Still, it’s a quirky little project if you’re the crafty type. Paint the outsides different colors for a string-light effect.

String lights threaded through empty pill bottles, glowing warmly as DIY party lights.

#17 First Aid Kit

Mini first aid kits in pill bottles are a lifesaver. I keep one in my purse for scraped knees and mystery bruises. (Let’s be honest… usually caused by one rambunctious child in particular, but I won’t name names.) A couple of antiseptic wipes fit in there too, and trust me, they’re worth their weight in gold.

Empty pill bottle shown alongside tweezers and antiseptic wipes, ready to be assembled into a mini first aid kit.
DIY first aid kit in a pill bottle. Image credit: Thrifty Fun.

#18 Tooth Storage

Parents: this one’s for you. Put a tooth in a pill bottle so the Tooth Fairy can actually find it in the bed sheets. Trust me, it’s a lot less stressful than digging through stuffed animals at midnight. A dab of glitter nail polish on the lid turns it into a magical “Tooth Fairy jar.”

Purple pill bottle with a white painted tooth design, blue cap, and pink ribbon bow, used as a tooth storage container.

#19 Hair Supply Container

Perfect for corralling bobby pins and elastics. I swear I’ve been working off the same pack of bobby pins for 15 years because they just vanish. The elastic bands wrap nicely around the outside of the bottle too. Add a strip of magnetic tape inside to keep the pins from scattering.

Prescription pill bottle decorated with patterned tape, filled with bobby pins and hair clips, with the lid labeled “Hair Pins.”

#20 Q-Tip Holder

Keep cotton swabs in one so the kids don’t decide to “help” each other with ear cleaning. (Yes, that happened here. Never again.) Stick a label on it if you also keep them for makeup. No one wants ear swabs touching mascara wands.

Prescription pill bottle filled with cotton swabs, shown with white lid on and off.
DIY cotton swab holder made from a pill bottle. Image credit: The Beauty Blog.

#21 Seed Storage

Don’t want to make printable seed packets? Pill bottles are perfect for storing seeds, and the childproof caps mean no accidental spills all over the floor. Taping a seed packet label to the outside helps keep varieties straight.

Collection of pill bottles labeled with hand-drawn illustrations of vegetables and herbs, used for storing seeds.
Pill bottles repurposed as seed storage containers. Image credit: Sunset.

#22 Battery Organizer

And finally, battery storage. Because the bottles are watertight, your batteries are less likely to corrode. Group them by size so you’re not digging through a messy junk drawer when the remote dies.

Pill bottles mounted under a wooden shelf, each filled with AA batteries for organized storage.
Battery organizer using pill bottles. Image credit: Lifehacker.

Your Pill Bottle Upcycling Questions, Answered

Still curious about what to do with those bottles once the medicine is gone? Here are a few of the questions I hear most often about reusing pill bottles and the simple answers that make it less of a headache.

Soak them in warm, soapy water first. If the sticky stuff won’t budge, rubbing alcohol or olive oil usually does the trick. A quick scrub and they’re ready to reuse.

Never flush them. Instead, look for pharmacy take-back bins, community collection events, or law enforcement drop-offs. If you don’t have those nearby, mix the meds with something gross (like coffee grounds or cat litter) before tossing in the trash. Always scratch off personal info on the bottle first.

Yes! Organizations like Matthew 25: Ministries accept them, and many animal shelters use them for pet meds. Just wash them out thoroughly first.

If you liked these ideas, pin the image below and share it with your Pinterest crew.

A Pinterest pin graphic with three empty orange pill bottles and a text overlay reading, “Creative Ways to Reuse Pill Bottles – From storage hacks to DIY projects—don’t toss them!”

Health doesn’t come from a plastic bottle, but if it does, at least you can turn that bottle into something useful afterward.

Want more ideas? Check out 12+ Fun Ways to Upcycle Holiday Cards After the Season, Mason Jar Crafts You’ll Love to DIY, and 12 Uses for an Old Milk Jugs.

Repurposing pill bottles proves a little creativity goes a long way. From seed storage to quirky decor, they definitely don’t have to end up in the trash.

What’s your favorite way to reuse pill bottles? Share in the comments. I’d love to hear!

Owner, Writer at The 104 Homesteader

Jessica Knowles is a long-time Maine homesteader and the voice behind The 104 Homestead and Forget-Me-Not Quail Farm. With over a decade of experience in small-scale farming and self-sufficiency, she shares practical tips to help you build a homestead that actually works—for real life, not just Pinterest.

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345 Comments

  1. I also save pill bottles.
    Use pill bottles to mail earrings/jewelry to my niece.
    Storing bent sewing needles and bent sewing pins to trash
    Tool box use.

    Reply

  2. Use in the bottom of large flower pots instead of rocks.

    Reply

  3. How to make guitar pick out of prescription bottles ?

    Reply

  4. The printing on the lids of most prescription pill bottles can be removed with some acetone nail polish remover. Then they can be relabeled, decorated or just left as is to suit your purposes.

    Reply
  5. Susan Saranovich says:

    An easy way to remove the label from prescription pill bottles is to carefully fill the pill bottle with very hot water from the tap. Don’t get water on the paper label. Give it about thirty seconds for the heat to transfer through the plastic, then the paper label should peel off easily, with little to no residue.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous says:

    Useing recycled pill bottles , one can make a lightweight nearly inexpensive indestructible spice selection for camping or backpacking. If you’re looking to take it to the next level you can upcycyle a old towel or blanket to make a spice roll to keep all the bottles organized. A label maker can make a printed plastic label for your spice jar. I have built one kit that has about twenty spices in it. It works great ,since the bottles are thick enough to resist crushing yet not bulky and gives about 5 tbs of volume of spices storage. The thinner tall bottles take up less space but yield less storage and more likely to break.

    Reply
  7. Debra Findley says:

    My husband fills them up with quarters and gives them to the grandchildren to put in the glovebox for emergency fund.

    We also give them to the Missionary wives who visit our church for the laundromat.

    Reply

  8. Our animal rescue league (ARL), uses clean pill bottles for stool samples. All sizes are needed. They also like the toilet paper cardboard, dogs like to chew on them.

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says:

    Our church puts many encouraging Scripture, prayers and words of cheer into each bottle with the instructions saying ‘take daily as needed’. It has been very rewarding to those who are confined.

    Reply
  10. Cindy Ritz says:

    Old pill bottles are great for bead or button storage and jewelry making supplies. My dad used them for small nails, screws, bolts, nuts. Also good for super glue storage to keep the glue standing up.

    Reply
  11. Susan Coughlin says:

    I use large pill bottles to hold individual bottles of nail polish.

    Reply
  12. Leslie Tracy says:

    I put used rotary cutter blades in a large prescription bottle. They fit perfectly and it’s safe storage. When ready to throw away, I seal with duct tape to be extra cautious.

    Reply

  13. What’s in a survival pill bottle?

    Reply

  15. Check with your local Human Society. Many repurpose the bottles to organize meds for animals in the shelter or in foster.

    Reply
  16. Anonymous says:

    I mix my acrylic paints in medicine bottles. Nothing worse than creating the perfect hue only to have it dry out on a pallet.

    Reply

  17. You can use pill bottles to store beads and jewelry findings.
    fishing hooks
    small hardware, screws, washers
    use as a stamper for the clear stamps
    spice jars
    smaller paint and glue containers taken from gallon cans

    Reply
  18. Anonymous says:

    You can use pill bottles to store beads and jewelry findings.
    fishing hooks
    small hardware, screws, washers
    use as a stamper for the clear stamps

    Reply
  19. Linda Ottman says:

    Fishing gear: split shots, sinkers, jigs, bobber stoppers, etc

    Reply
  20. Anonymous says:

    so clever love it can’t wait to do these ideas please post more ideas thanks

    Reply

  21. I use the larger bottles to store extra light bulbs for my vehicle. It’s a great protective for the glass bulbs that I carry in my toolbox.

    Reply

  22. We use our pill bottles to hold flash drives, bandaids, spices, toothpicks.

    Reply

  23. I use large, old pill bottles to group thread and bobbin sets together so that I can find them easier; to keep hair accessories corralled ( hair bands on the outside and Bobby pins or clips on the inside); to hold coins for machines in hotels when traveling; and to keep sync cables, ear phones and charger boxes together when traveling or in my car.

    Reply
  24. Tina Vera says:

    Attach a brush to the inside of lid. Then I fill with modpodge or I’ve also done acrylic paint. You can even buy those little metal balls to throw in and help mix when you shake. The dark bottles will help anything from oxidizing too. I started this because my mom and I share art supplies but she lives in Illinois and I love in Arizona. The pill bottles are also cheaper to ship. The other thing I like to do is use them as seasoning jars. Lastly I use them for mica/pixie/brusho powders. Poke a few holes in the top and boom! Instant shaker for mixed media projects! Thank you for the list. Happy crafting to all.

    Reply
  25. Thomas Gibson says:

    For coins I cut a slit in the cap so I can drop coins in without taking off the lid. That also works well for gum wrappers. Fold the wrapper and drop it in the slit in lid.
    For old needles or even toothpicks I drill an 1/8 inch hole in the lid. Drop a needle in the hole for needle bottle. For the toothpicks just shake it a little until a toothpick comes out of the hole a little, then pull it out.
    I have several pill bottles for my pickup. One holds $10 of quarters, another one has $1 bills in it and another one for $5 bills. Good to have when traveling. 5’s are great when you need gas and you don’t want to take your wallet out. 1’s for when you need a snack or something to drink. Quarters? Vending machines, wash your clothes if it is a coin operated machine, wash your vehicle or toll roads.
    I also have a lot of old pill bottles in my work room. Small screws or nails. Small hooks. Pins that I use for some shelves that I build, so I can adjust the shelves the way I need them. Some hold small cup hooks, S-hooks, hooks for hanging pictures, small D-rings that I use when building a shelf for a wall. So many uses for someone who does woodworking projects.
    They can be used to hold a little paint while working on some projects. I have wooden crates I made for groceries. On one of them I painted ( EGGS ) on the side of it. I now know that that particular one will hold the cartons of eggs easily.
    Hope this gives you a few more ideas for uses of old pill bottles.

    Reply

    1. Also store thread bobbins.

      Reply

      1. Our school nurse uses them for teeth lost at school. A few stickers and they get home safe to the tooth fairy.

        Reply