Visit our sister sites:
  • All You
  • Coastal Living
  • Cooking Light
  • Health
  • My Recipes
  • Southern Living
  • Sunset
  • This Old House
Real Simple | Life Made Easier, Every Day
  • food & recipes
    • Browse All
    • Recipe Search
    • Recipe Galleries & Favorites
    • Cooking Tips & Techniques
    • Shopping & Storing
    • Tools & Products
    • Ingredient Guide
  • home & organizing
    • Browse All
    • Organizing
    • Cleaning
    • Decorating
    • Home Improvement
    • Gardening
    • Green Living
    • New Uses For Old Things
    • Cleaning 101
  • beauty & fashion
    • Browse All
    • Hair
    • Skin Care
    • Makeup
    • Makeovers
    • Clothing
    • New! Finish the Look Fashion Game
    • Instant Beauty Makeover Tool
  • holidays & entertaining
    • Browse All
    • Holidays
    • Entertaining
    • Gifts
    • Real Simple Gift Guide App
    • Holiday Decorating Ideas
    • Easy Home Entertaining
    • Holiday Entertaining
  • weddings
    • Browse All
    • Flowers
    • Cakes & Catering
    • Ceremony
    • Dress & Attire
    • Etiquette
    • Budget
    • Guests
    • Planning
    • Registry & Gifts
    • Real Weddings
    • Checklists
  • family & work
    • Browse All
    • Health
    • Money
    • Family
    • Life Strategies
    • Technology
    • Travel
    • Etiquette
    • Books & Entertainment
    • Money Management Tips
  • checklists
    • Food
    • Beauty & Style
    • Household & Finance
    • Health & Wellness
    • Travel
    • Cleaning
    • Family
    • Organizing & Home Improvement
    • Holidays & Entertaining
    • Weddings
  • blog
    • Browse All
    • Adventures in Chaos
    • Conversation Starters
    • Daily Thought
    • New Products
    • Simple Tip
    • Where We're Clicking
  • magazine
    • Browse All
    • Subscribe
    • Table of Contents & More
    • Road Tests
    • Daily Finds
    • Newsletters
    • Real Simple Products
    • Real Simple Offers
    • Real Simple Rewards
    • Back Issues
    • Give a Gift
  • VIDEOS
  • MAKE 1 SIMPLE CHANGE
  • NO-OBLIGATION BOOK CLUB
  • REAL SIMPLE OFFERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Homepage
  • Home & Organizing
  • New Uses for Old Things
  • Email
  • Print
  • Save
Transparent tape in dispenserMark Lund Page 1 of 5
New Uses for Old Things

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.
Next: New Uses for Corkboard
Skip to Daily Finds slides.
Transparent tape in dispenser
Cork board
Name tag
Black permanent markers

Most Popular Galleries

  • Blue present with silver stars

      29 Great Gifts for Grads

  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

      50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life

  • Kristen Jones Connell with her dad Billy Jones

      36 Unique Gifts for Dad

Hot Topic

“Who cares if it’s still only spring? We’re already thinking about our first summer swim—and we want our readers to be prepared. So when you’re in and out of the pool, use these surprising tips from...” - Julia Edelstein
More From

How To Protect Your Hair at the Pool

Do you have a new use for tape?

View Earlier Comments
Semikolon Photo and CD Boxes

Organizing tips & tricks

Get smart solutions delivered weekly, plus special offers.

Advertisement

What's Hot

Stuffed panda bear

What Causes Dark Circles Under Your Eyes?

If your dark circles aren’t quite this adorable, you don’t have to grin and bear it. Try these (en)lightening strategies to minimize them.

  • 10 Free Ways to Make Charitable Donations
  • Huffington Post Home: 10 Inspiring Closets
Computer deskNew on the Web
Secrets to Small Space Entertaining from Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam
For years and years my husband and I lived in an apartment that was fairly avera...
from The Nest Blog - Home Décor, Cooking, Money, Health & Sex News & Advice » house & home
Dating advice: Who you should (and shouldn't) listen to
When you start dating a new woman, everyone becomes a critic: She's great, she'...
from FOXNews.com
Vote in Our 2013 POPSUGAR 100 Bracket!
It's time for the 2013 POPSUGAR 100 bracket! Over the next few weeks we nee...
from POPSUGAR Home
HuffPost Tastemakers: A Meal At Nopi
Ottolenghi is a lucky man. Read more: Tastemakers , Ottolenghi ...
from Tastepartner on The Huffington Post
WHOA: The Coolest Way To Update An Old Fridge
Light fixtures can be changed. Colors can be painted over. Ugly floors can be co...
from Home on Huffingtonpost
My Houzz: Remodeling Modernizes a Neoclassical Dutch Home (15 photos)
In 1908 in Haarlem, the Netherlands (yes, New York City's Harlem neighborhood w...
from Houzz
  • Browse RealSimple.com:
    • Ask Real Simple
    • Contests & Sweepstakes
    • Games
    • Makeover in Minutes
    • New Uses for Old Things
    • No-Obligation Book Club
    • Photo Contests
    • Quizzes
    • Road Tests
    • Shop, Prep, Cook
    • Real Weddings
    • Tools, Videos, Checklists
    • Site Map
  • Customer Service:
    • Contact Us
    • Customer Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your California Privacy Rights
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Gift
    • Real Simple Products
    • Real Simple Offers
    • Real Simple Rewards
    • Back Issues
    • Media Kit
  • On the Go:
    • Real Simple iPadRead Us on Tablet
    Get our Apps:
    • No Time to Cook
    • To-Do Lists
    • Gift Guide
  • FREE Newsletters:
    • Weekly Tips
    • Daily Finds Newsletter
    • Keep-It-Together Checklist
    • SEE ALL
    Time Inc. Lifestyle Brands
  • Connect With Real Simple
    • Pinterest
      JOIN US
    • Facebook
      LIKE US
    • Twitter
      FOLLOW US
    • Google Plus
      FOLLOW US
    • YouTube
      WATCH US
    • Instagram
      FOLLOW US
  • Food & Recipes
  • Home & Organizing
  • Beauty & Fashion
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • Weddings
  • Family & Work
  • Checklists
  • Blog
  • Magazine
Real Simple Home and Lifestyle Network
Copyright © 2013 Time Inc. Lifestyle Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.