Homemade Reusable Utensil Stocking Stuffers

How to make reusable utensil stocking stuffers so you never have to use disposables!

You can stuff these stocking stuffers with any reusable utensils you find yourself needing frequently.

I’m often on the go, walking around downtown or riding the bus for hours on errands, or carpooling with others in a situation where I know I won’t be able to drive home quickly to grab a snack or my reusable fill-in-the-blank.  I find myself needing to-go items every week: my stainless steel take-out container, or bento box, or chopsticks, or straw, or fork, or spoon.  Lately, Ryan & I have had a series of unfortunate disposable moments, resulting in several plastic forks, containers, straws, and napkins getting tossed.  That’s nothing compared to other Americans, who together throw away 40 billion plastic utensils every year, but for us, it’s like WOA we need a better plan!

For Christmas, I just recycled some pajamas to make new stockings.  Now I needed free things to stuff them with, and a reusable utensil pack seemed appropriate.  You can buy these packs online and they look wonderful, but we needed to save some money, and use what we already have around the house.  For this project, here’s what you’ll need (feel free to choose what you or the person you intend to give this to uses most often, and ignore anything not relevant):

  1. Cloth napkins, either ones you made yourself, were given as a gift, found on a freecycle table like we did, or at a thrift store.
  2. Rubber Bands or decorate, secure tie such as a cloth ribbon etc.
  3. Metal Spoon & Fork (maybe you’d like to include a knife)
  4. Reusable chopsticks (or extra disposable chopsticks you saved from the landfill)
  5. Straw (very helpful when you get a milkshake, smoothie, or iced coffee!)
  6. BONUS: include a small stainless steal bento box for leftovers, and a used plastic sauce container for liquids and dips! It’s also fun to save themed utentils from places you like to frequent, such as taking those bright-colored frozen yogurt spoons home and cleaning them for inclusion in this gift, so you or your friend don’t seem out of place and get to use the “fun looking” disposable utensils – great if you have kids!

Starting with the cloth napkin, spread it out and place all utensils on top.  Don’t forget the chopsticks, which can make a really thoughtful gift if they’re decorative.  Roll up the napkin around the utensils, keeping it tucked tightly so things won’t fall out.  Then secure it all with a rubber band or decorative ribbon.  There you have it, your quick and free stocking stuffer to help everyone in the family use less disposable products when on the go!  Personally, I’m very attached to my own chopsticks given to me by a friend long ago.  Do you already have your own reusable utensils?  What are they made of, and do they hold a special place in your heart?



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