Don't throw away your yarn scraps as the previous owner of this lot did! Though maybe the (presumably a) lady gave up her (knitting) hobby altogether as she threw out her cable needle as well, I think it's more likely she just forgot that was still in the plastic bag too that I picked up from the curb about two months ago.
Search the internet and you will find lots of free patterns for flowers, coasters, appliques and such. Tiny projects to use up your leftovers or otherwise keep them for little accents in larger projects.
In the first picture I can't even show all the yarn I found because I've used up some of it already. I made this set of reusable face scrubbies from one of the larger balls of cotton yarn that came with it. This set is currently for sale in my Etsy shop. You can make your own and save money on cotton pads by crocheting flat rounds of dc with a trim in any fantasy stitch you like.
If you don't want to look further here's a crochet pattern for a flat flower shaped round that I like a lot and takes only a few grams of yarn each. The design is not my own, but I translated it in English from a crochet book I had as a child and is at least forty years old. These two are part of a set with a larger variation for sale in my Etsy shop.
You can use them as coasters in a thicker cotton yarn, but thin cotton thread will make great appliques. Or, done in seasonal colours or sparkly shiny material even hang them in your Christmas tree! Weave a ribbon through if you like (imagine that here) and starch if necessary.
My abbreviations (in universal terminology; BE readers pls look up conversion charts USA>>BE):
ch - chain stitch (Dutch: losse)
ss - slip stitch (Dutch: halve vaste)
sc - single crochet (Dutch: vaste)
dc - double crochet (Dutch: stokje)
Start: 6 ch, close as a ring with a ss.
Row 1: 2 ch, 23 dc under the starting ch, close with a ss in the 2nd ch of the beginning of this row.
Tip: Find it difficult to fit 23 dc in? Make about 6 at a time then pull them back tightly between thumb an index finger, make the next 6 and repeat.
Row 2: 4 ch, 1 dc in the closing ss of the previous row; 1 ch. *skip 2 st; in the next st: 1 dc, 2 ch, 1 dc; 1 ch*. Repeat 7x from *to*. Close row with a ss in 2nd ch (of 4) of the start.
Row 3: 2 ch; 1 dc, 2 ch, 2 dc under the 2 ch of the previous row; 1 sc under the 1 ch. *2 dc, 2 ch, 2 dc as before; 1 sc as before*. Repeat 7x from *to*. Close row with a ss in 2nd ch (of 2) of the start.
Row 4: No build up with ch as before; directly 3 dc, 1 ch, 3 dc under the 2 ch of the previous row; 1 sc to the left and right of the sc of the previous row. Repeat 8x and close with a ss in the first st of the row. Bind off or crochet a loop if you want to hang it up, then bind off.