Unexpected New Uses for Home Office Items

Make your office supplies work double time with these new twists.

New Uses for Transparent Tape

• Prepare to pucker up: For a smoother finish, press the sticky side of a piece of tape to your lips to remove dry skin (that is not cracked) before applying lipstick.
• Identify plants: Use clear tape to cover seed markers in the garden. You'll be able to read the names all season long, rain or shine.
• Try a new color: Find out what "Hot Tamale" nail polish will look like on you. Place a small piece of tape on your fingernail, then brush on a test coat.
• Arrange flowers: Clear tape, when applied across the mouth of a vase in a grid formation, makes an invisible guide for arranging flowers.
• Seal the frayed end of a shoelace. Create your own plastic end with a wrapped piece of tape.
• Get hung up: Before hanging a picture on a plaster wall, put a small piece of tape where the nail will go. This will prevent the plaster from chipping when you hammer in the nail.