50 All Time Best Uses for Old Things
- Re purpose an old frame for a vanity tray that's pretty as a picture. Place a piece of colored paper or fabric inside as a finishing touch.
- A Twister game mat makes a spot-on tablecloth for a child's birthday party: Sticky spills and icing wash right off.
- A toothbrush's bristles lift away stray threads of silk from fresh ears of corn quickly and efficiently.
- At a party, stash ice in a colander set on top of a bucket or a bowl. Water will drain out, and guests will get only the solid stuff.
- Make no-mess pancakes with the help of a ketchup bottle: Pour in batter, then squeeze out precise portions.
- Stop searching high and low for hair clips and elastics: Store them tidily on an empty TP tube.
- Pick up interesting cardboard coasters at restaurants and bars you visit along your travels. Punch a hole near the edge, thread some ribbon through, and voilà: homemade gift tag
- Chalk is a moisture absorber: Tie up a few pieces in cheesecloth and store them with your good silver to slow any tarnishing.
- Vegetable oil will put a shine on leather shoes. Use a damp cloth to remove any dirt, then run a soft cloth with a drop of oil over the surface to (literally) add polish.
- Tuck a few needles, pins, and thread into a matchbox for an instant sewing kit.
- Transform a six-pack holder into a condiment tote that's ideal for summer picnics.
- Have an old cassette case hanging around? (Oh, you know you do.) Coil iPod earphones and tuck them in to keep wires uncrossed.
- One of readers' all-time-favorite ideas: the LifeSaver as birthday-candle holder. (Candies in the original rolls provide the best fit―LifeSavers sold in big bags are larger and don't work as well.)
- Forget unruly plastic bags that seemingly regenerate under your sink. An empty tissue box keeps them neatly corralled and ready for use.
- A giveaway shower cap becomes the perfect wrapper for shoes when traveling, preventing them from dirtying clothes packed in your suitcase.
- Brand anything as yours―books, binders, Tupperware, a stapler―with a return-address sticker.
- A clever way to keep straight whose drink is whose: Mark each glass with removable window decals.
- A hard plastic soap case is the perfect size to protect a camera stashed in a carry-on bag.
- Put off-duty winter mittens to work as protection for summer shades.
- A supermarket bag, tightly secured with a rubber band, will keep a brush (or roller) moist for a day or two in between painting sessions: the end of dried-out bristles.
- No more worries of camisoles and sundresses slipping off hangers when you wrap the ends with rubber bands.
- A binder clip serves as a key chain/money holder you can clamp to your waistband for a purse-free morning walk.
- Pretty ribbon revives an old lamp shade. Apply a thin layer of glue and press on each piece of ribbon, matching the ends neatly.
- Save a countertop with an old mouse pad turned trivet. (Make sure it has a nonplastic coating.)
- No more oops! moments when painting, if you cover doorknobs and hardware with aluminum foil.
- That straightening iron works on more than rambunctious hair: Use it to press between buttons, where a regular iron won't fit.
- Gardeners can go easy on their jeans with homemade knee pads. A couple of plastic bags tied on keep them grime-free.
- When traveling, eliminate clunky bottles for nonprescription meds from your purse by popping the pills into a contact-lens case.
- Who says a towel rack has to be the dedicated realm of, well, towels? Mounted over the kitchen sink, it can also hold a collection of cleansers.
- A clear hair elastic binds blooms together for a better arrangement in a wide-mouth vase. Stretch the elastic around the stems, then let the flowers fall naturally.
- Rubber bands give little fingers a better grip on a chilly or slippery glass.
- Why pack with Styrofoam peanuts when you can pack with popcorn (plain and air-popped). No air popper? Be sure to cover the item with a plastic bag.
- An unused glasses case makes a convenient storage spot for beauty items on the go.
- The cardboard tube from a spent roll of toilet tissue is a wonderfully simple tool for keeping extension cords tangle-free
- Warehouse your shoes in an empty wine-bottle carton wrapped in pretty paper
- A lemon works to remove tough food stains from a plastic or light-colored wood cutting board. Squeeze on the juice of one half, rub it in, and let sit for 20 minutes before rinsing.
- Avoid batter splatters and flour dustings on a cookbook by wrapping a plastic bag around everything but the page you're using.
- Slide bobby pins onto a hem to hold pleats in place as you iron them.
- Stick a sparkler in Play-Doh, then light it up. The container protects hands from flying sparks, preventing burns.
- Change dirty water in a flower vase by using a turkey baster to suction up the liquid without disturbing your arrangement. Add fresh water directly from the tap.
- Silence cabinet doors that slam with cork sliced into thin disks and glued onto the inside corners
- Give Easter eggs a year-round use (and save on resealable bags) by filling them with snacks like crackers or Cheerios.
- Cut down on the amount of potting soil needed by crumpling plastic bags to fill the bottom of a deep pot (just be sure that you don't cover the drainage hole, if there is one).
- Organize bills―arranged in the order in which they need to be paid off―in an unused napkin holder.
- A paint chip strip makes a dandy place card: Cut off a length of two colors, then fold.
- Bridge the gap between too-short stems and too-deep vase by sliding on trimmed clear plastic straws
- Shower-curtain hooks provide sturdy storage for heavier items, like purses
- Liberally apply cooking spray to both sides of a plastic or metal shovel before clearing away snow, and ice will slide right off instead of building up.
- Attach a magnet to the inside of a metal medicine cabinet, and you can promptly pluck tweezers (or nail clippers) when needed.
- Give cocktails extra pop with lollies in complementary colors subbed in for stirrers
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