Giving Used Coffee Grounds A Second Life

I drink a lot of coffee... iced coffee to be precise. Not the fluffy blended stuff, just ice, coffee, cream and Splenda.

I use a cold brewing method (which I can talk about another day) and this process leaves me with a lot of used coffee grounds. I hated just throwing them out so I started putting them on my compost pile. That is a great use for them but I wanted to know what else they are good for and to my surprise all kinds of stuff! Here are some ways to give your coffee a second life!

• Put coffee grounds in your compost bin. As noted above, they are a valuable source of nitrogen.
• Create a slug and snail barrier. Coffee grounds are both abrasive and acidic, so a barrier of grounds placed near slug-prone plants may just save them from these garden pests. 
• Deodorizer. Dry them out on a cookie sheet and then put them in a bowl in your refrigerator or freezer, or rub them on your hands to get rid of food prep smells.  
• Dye. By steeping grounds in hot water, you can make brown dye for fabric, paper and even Easter eggs.
• Make homemade tattoos (temporary) with henna and coffee grounds.
• Happy worm home. Keep bait worms alive by mixing coffee grounds into the soil before you add worms.
• Mushrooms. Grow mushrooms on old coffee grounds.
• Ant repellent. Sprinkle coffee grounds near cracks to keep ants at bay.
• Squirrel repellent. Keep squirrels from digging in your beds.
• Dust inhibitor. Before you clean out the fireplace, toss wet coffee grounds over the ashes to keep the ash dust under control.
• Flea dip. Follow up Fido’s shampoo with a coffee ground rub down, working them down to his skin. Not only are the fleas suppose to vamoose, but puppy’s hair will feel soft too.
• Kitty repellent. To keep kitty from using the garden as her personal powder room, sprinkle grounds mixed with orange peels around your plants.
• Cleaning product. As they’re slightly abrasive, grounds can be used as a scouring agent for greasy and grimy stain-resistant objects but be careful if they are white.
• Furniture scratch cover-up. Steep grounds and apply a bit of the liquid to furniture scratches with a Q-tip.

The uses I found that were strange but intriguing…

• Cellulite reducer. Mix 1/4 cup warm, used coffee grounds and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. While standing over an old towel or newspaper, apply the mixture to your "problem areas." Next, wrap the areas with shrink wrap and leave on for several minutes. Unwind the wrap, brush loose grounds off your skin and then shower with warm water. For best results, it is recommended to repeat this procedure twice a week. A little weird to be sure, but as high priced cellulite creams have coffee in them, it just might work.

•  Soften and add shine to hair. When washing your hair, rub coffee grounds through wet hair and rinse. For brown hair, coffee grounds add highlights

• Face mask. Mix coffee grounds with egg whites to make a mask for your face. Slather it on and let it dry then rinse it off with water.

• Carpet Cleaner? Sprinkle them on your carpet and then vacuum up to remove funky odors (I'm not so sure about this one…)

Even something for the kids!

Treasure Stone Craft 

By S herri Osborn About.com Guide

Materials Needed:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup used coffee grounds
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/4 cup sand
• 1 cup water

Instructions:
Mix all dry ingredients together. Slowly add the water to make a stiff dough; you might end up using only half the water - add it slowly or your dough will be too runny!!

Knead on a floured surface until fairly smooth. Break the dough into desired rock sizes. Hide toys and surprises in the center of a ball of dough. Set in a safe place until totally dry. Atleast 3 - 4 days.

Once it is dry, the dough will look and feel like a rock. You can carefully break open the home-made rocks with a hammer to reveal the hidden treasures inside.

  

Hee hee hee!