Remember the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials, where the person with the chocolate runs into the person with the peanut butter – literally runs into, so that their ingredients are combined – and it’s a moment of pure serendipity?

Earlier this year, as I was sorting my collection of obtainium for the umpteenth time, I found myself wondering how to get rid of two donations that I thought I had no use for: a gazillion plastic grocery bags and an equally large number of empty film canisters. When I put them in my car, side by side (thinking I’d just recycle them), it hit me: I could use them together.

I’ve written before about my love of reusing empty prescription bottles. These aren’t that different, except there’s no child-proof lid (so storing pills or pointy things is out of the question). But, they make the perfect container for a plastic grocery bag. As much as I try to only carry my reusable shopping bags, I must admit I still rely on plastic grocery bags for the less glamorous jobs.

I carry one when I walk our dogs (to pick up anything they leave behind). I’ll put one in my pool/beach bag, to carry wet swimming suits. I keep one in my car to use as an emergency trash bag. I’d also use it in a pinch as a rain hat, to cover a wet bleacher, to carry muddy shoes, and so on.

Now, remember when I said I had a gazillion of these things? Today, I took a bowl full of them to the teacher’s lounge at our younger son’s school. It’s Teacher Appreciation Week and these little canisters, filled with endless potential, seemed like a good way to thank people who spend their days nurturing the potential in every child.

P.S.  Yes, that’s half a globe, with denim around the rim and a plastic lid glued to the bottom, to keep it from wobbling. Our younger son busted this years ago and we kept the two halves, thinking we’d use one for part of an R2-D2 costume someday. I’m glad we never did.