Free Color Mixing Cups

It may sound a bit unsanitary but using disposable latex gloves I collected several hundred used communion cups from church and took them home. I then soaked them in pure bleach for several days and them boiled them in a pan of water.

Yogurts, puddings, applesauce, jellies also come in nice little plastic containers that come in handy for paints.

Also, most dollar stores sell a bag of 50 communion-like cups for $1. They are a little bit larger. Its not free but close.

I drink a lot, A LOT, of coffee.

My wife grabs those little transparent cups/caps that cover the dispenser part of soap bottles and uses them for applying eye drops (she washes them well first). Once in awhile she gives me one, but is pretty stingy with her stash, and since she buys the soap she gets those caps first.  They are great for brush painting and for mixing colors when I brush paint, without using one of my airbrush jars.

Unless I have a lot of paint to mix, I use the screw-on caps from soda bottles.  They are handy, and common around here.  And, I turn them over and use the "top" of the cap when I need to apply a drop or two of CA  and dip a toothpick or stretched sprue into it or mix just a little amount of paint for touch-ups and such.  I keep a little thinner (mineral spirits) in one of the caps when I'm airbrushing.  I can dip an old brush in that and keep the tip clean.

little transparent cups/caps that cover the dispenser part of soap bottles-Yeah, I keep those too; very handy as well.  And while I'm thinking about it, I keep the metal lids from frozen orange juice.  They provide two sides ideal for mixing paint for brush work! 

Gary

For anyone that followed my tip and got new caps for their PollyScale/Model Master jars, they end up with a near lifetime supply of steel caps to use.

just in case someone needs it www.containerandpackaging.com/.../L084

Rex

Restaurant/food service suppliers sell condiment cups and lids for cheap; they're handy for paints (except some thinners will melt them), and also are great for storing little parts and assemblies in the kit during construction. For free, plastic milk carton tops work for small amounts of paint, CA or epoxy.

I put ca glue, on the bottom of empty glass paint jars.  I have tried mixing paint, in soda caps and found it to be more difficult than the creamer cups.  For parts storage, I use weekly pill containers(for tiny parts) and divided containers(dollar store) for mid and large sized parts.