13 Genius New Uses for Kitchen Items
Smart ways to repurpose parchment paper, cupcake liners, a vegetable peeler, and more.
Use these guidelines to see how many gallons you can conserve each year.
1 Cookie Cutter to Make a Cake Topper
Place a number-shaped cookie cutter on a frosted cake, then fill in with a layer of sprinkles. Remove the cutter and—voilà!—the cake is decorated and candle-ready.
2 Ice Cubes as a Soup Skimmer
To skim excess fat from soup without refrigerating it, fill a metal ladle with ice cubes and glide it along the surface a few times, wiping the ladle as needed. Excess fat will cling to the ladle’s bottom (and not yours).
3 Cupcake Liner to Make Multicolor Crayons
Fill foil liners about two-thirds full with unwrapped crayon stubs in assorted colors, place in a muffin tin, and bake at 275° F until melted (about 10 minutes). Then freeze for cool colors with zigzag edges.
4 Jam Jar as a Terrarium
Thanks to its tight-fitting top, which locks in moisture, a jam jar is ideal for a moss-and-fern countertop garden.
5 Parchment Paper as Meat Divider
Layer squares of paper between burgers, steaks, or pork chops before freezing to make it easier to separate them later.
6 Cupcake Liners as Paper Lanterns
For a soft glow, poke the bulbs on a strand of miniature lights through the flat bottoms of the liners.
7 Gravy Boat as Sauce Drizzler
Make ice cream the crème de la crème by serving hot fudge or butterscotch from a gravy boat
8 Parchment Paper as a Pizza Preserver
Help retain the crispy bottom of last night’s pie by quickly microwaving leftover slices on a piece of parchment.
9 Kool-Aid as a Rust Buster
If iron furniture has left a rusty blight on your concrete patio, mix up some lemonade Kool-Aid: The citric acid in it will help dilute the rust. Cover the stain with Kool-Aid, scrub with a stiff brush, and rinse with water once the stain starts to fade. Repeat if needed.
10 Vegetable Peeler as a Butter Softener
To soften cold butter quickly before baking cookies, shave off the amount you need with a peeler.
11 Wineglasses as a Cupcake Cloche
Cover a leftover treat with an upside-down wineglass to prevent it from going stale or getting crushed. (Idea courtesy of Jan Urick, Gilbert, Arizona)
