New Uses for Kitchen Items

Contact Lens Case as Travel Spice Holder

Pack small amounts of salt, pepper, and spices for a camping trip.

Chopsticks as Lint Remover

Pluck the lint buildup from a clothes dryer's trap.

Bowl as Garlic Peeler

Peel garlic. Place cloves in a bowl, cover with another bowl to form a sphere, and shake. The peels will flake off.

Salt as Iron Cleaner

Eliminate sticky residue from an iron. Run the hot iron (no steam) over plain paper sprinkled with salt.

Colander as Laundry Aid

Hand-launder delicates. A colander shields them from any residue in the sink that can harm the fabric, such as peroxide from toothpaste or caustic agents from cleansers.

Sponge as Envelope Sealer

Safeguard your taste buds during holiday card season. Replace a dried out ink pad with a damp sponge and use it to seal envelopes and attach stamps—no licking required.

Salt as Homemade Drain Cleaner

Get a slow-moving drain flowing again and pour a solution of ½ cup of salt for every quart of hot water down the pipe.

Newspaper as Refrigerator Odor Absorber

Absorb odors in the refrigerator’s vegetable drawer with a lining of newspaper.

Olive Oil as Sap Remover

If dragging and decking out fresh spruce leaves you with sticky digits, pour a tablespoon of oil onto a cloth, then rub until clean. Bonus: The oil is a great moisturizer for dry winter skin.

Aluminum Foil as Party Garland

Twist foil into links to make a sparkly garland for an almost-instant party decoration (or a rainy-day distraction for the kids).

Olive Oil as Stainless Steel Cleaner

Buff streaks out of stainless steel with a little oil on a terry-cloth rag, then shine with a dry paper towel.

Olive Oil as Cat Food Supplement

Prevent hair balls. Add ⅛ to 1¼ teaspoon to your cat’s food for easy digestion.

Salt as Stain Remover

Remove coffee and tea stains from the insides of cups by rubbing with a salted citrus peel.

Parchment Paper as Musical Instrument

Make a kazoo by folding a piece of parchment or wax paper over a comb’s teeth (the paper should hang over about an inch).

Cornstarch as Makeup Protector

Balance the oiliness of moisturizing makeup. Brush on a thin layer as a finishing touch.

Felt Pads as Cutting Board Anchor

Anchor a cutting board’s corners to make prep work easier and safer.

Baby Food Jar as Easter Egg Decorating Aid

Design Rothkoesque Easter eggs. Fill a jar with dye, then dip half the egg in and let dry. Dip again, but only one-third of the egg. Repeat with both ends of the egg until you have stripes in varying shades.

Need a quick refresher on how to dye Easter eggs? Watch this quick video to learn how to hard-boil an egg, then check out these homemade Easter egg dye recipes.

Soda Bottle as Pasta Measurer

Said good-bye to soda? Fill the mouth of a dry 20-ounce bottle with uncooked spaghetti; the opening holds enough for a hearty single serving.

Belt Hanger as Kitchen Towel Hooks

Hook extra dish towels and pot holders on a belt hanger for easy retrieval.

Binder Clip as Chip Clip

Secure half-eaten bags of potato chips with a binder clip for an easy way to keep your favorite snack fresh and crunchy.

Cake Stand as Soap Dish

Glam up a bathroom or vanity. Stock soaps and washcloths on top, or showcase your prettiest perfume bottles.

Cereal Box as Drawer Organizer

If you're the flaky type, cereal boxes (including the single-serving minis) can corral desk-drawer chaos. Slice off the tops and the bottoms and fill them with loose odds and ends.

Pipe Cleaners as Drink Labels

Skip the fancy wine charms and use an array of brightly colored pipe cleaners to identify guests' drinks at your next get-together. Submitted by: LassieBV

Collapsible Laundry Bins as Garbage Bins

During seasonal cleaning binges, soft-sided, handled laundry bins can double as trash cans. Submitted by: HookemSuz 

Chip Clip as Bookmark

Attaching a chip clip to each side of your cookbook will not only keep your place while whipping up dinner, it will also help keep the book open. Submitted by: kriehl5

Silverware Holder as Bathroom Drawer Organizer

Use a utensil tray in your bathroom drawer to keep small items like tweezers, nail clippers, and makeup brushes organized. Submitted by: Margaret2580

Melon Baller as Jar Scoop

Scoop and strain from a narrow-mouth jar at the same time by using a melon baller. Works especially well for foods like capers and pimento. Submitted by: KimEH1

Cocktail Shaker as Egg Scrambler

Whip up fluffy omelets by adding eggs, milk, and seasonings together in a cocktail mixer. Give it a few shakes and it's ready for the skillet. Submitted by: suziegirl

Sugar Dispenser as Kitchen Twine Holder

Keep kitchen twine from tangling and jamming your drawers by using a glass sugar dispenser as a spool. Simply place the twine in the jar and thread through the open hole.

Cake Stand as Counter Organizer

Curb countertop clutter. Drop keys and bills on the stand instead.

Plastic Easter Eggs as DIY Maracas

Fill emptied plastic eggs with puffed rice cereal and silver-ball cake decorations to make impromptu maracas for kids.

Cupcake Liner as Decorative Snowflakes

Create a winter wonderland in the entryway. Flatten white paper liners (foil ones will work, too), fold into halves or quarters, then snip out shapes along the folds. When you open them back up, voilà: snowflakes you can string from the ceiling.

Votive Candle Holders as Place Cards

Arrange a luminous table setting. Write guests’ names on strips of parchment paper and wrap them around votive holders, securing the ends with tape. As an alternative, remove the candles, cut snapshots of guests to match the height of a holder, and then curl around the inside wall.

Cupcake Liner as Halloween Decoration

Show what a creative Halloween party “ghost-ess” you are. Turn white liners upside down, attach spooky googly eyes, and display them by a boo-fet of seasonally inspired treats.

Pastry Tip as Place Card

Set a sweet table and use scalloped pastry tips in fun colors as place-card holders.

Gravy Boat as Unique Soap Dish

Fill an antique gravy boat with a bar of soap to transform it into an elegant soap dish.

Cake Stand as Display Stand

Show off. Display small photos and mementos, which look more important on a platform.

Drink Holder as Fruit Protector

Rough commute? Slide a drink cooler over an apple to keep it from bruising in your lunch tote.

Cupcake Carrier as Knickknack Organizer

For the 359 days of the year when you’re not hauling cupcakes, use the cups to store jewelry or craft supplies.

Straw as Ketchup Unclogger

Insert a straw until it reaches the bottom of the glass bottle. Shake the bottle, then pour, leaving the straw inside. The airflow provided by the straw breaks the condiment-stopping vacuum.

Paper Doily as a Cake Decoration

You baked the cake. Now you’re expected to frost it, too? Take a break from the sticky stuff and use a doily to stencil on a pretty sugar topping. Press a doily flat on top of a round cake and, using a fine-mesh sieve, sprinkle confectioners’ sugar liberally over the surface. Use two hands to carefully remove the doily post-dusting.

Beer Koozie as Shaving-Cream Holder

Protect your bathtub rim from rust rings by slipping this foamy college relic over a can of Barbasol (rather than Budweiser).

Zippered Plastic Bag as Pencil Case

Always have your pencils and PTA notes (or toddler’s crayons and doodle paper) in the same spot: Just punch holes along the nonzippered edge of a sandwich bag, then click it into a three-ring binder.

Coffee Beans as Pie Weights

When prebaking a piecrust, use beans to keep it from puffing up or shrinking into the pie plate: Line the bottom and sides of the cold dough with foil and fill to the brim with beans.

Ice Cream Scoop as Sand-Castle Tool

An ice cream scoop deposits perfect domes for a Taj Mahal (or a yurt).

Clipboard as Place-Mat Holder

Hang a clipboard on the wall (or inside a cabinet) to clamp down on place mats—and that old “I can’t find them!” excuse from the person setting the table.

Aluminum Foil as Wrinkle Remover

To get wrinkles out of silk, wool, and rayon clothes that can't take direct heat, place a piece of foil on your ironing board, then lay the garment flat over it. With the steam button down, pass the iron three to four inches over the fabric several times. Wet heat radiating from the foil helps smooth out wrinkles.

Aluminum Foil as Fixture Protector

Protect doorknobs and hardware in the kitchen and bathroom when you're painting by wrapping foil around them to catch dribbles. The foil molds to the shape of whatever it's covering and stays firmly in place until the job is complete.

Aluminum Foil as Glassware Scrubber

To get baked-on food off a glass pan or an oven rack, use dishwashing liquid and a ball of foil in place of a steel-wool soap pad, says Mary Findley, president of the cleaning-products developer Mary Moppins. It's one way to recycle those used but perfectly good pieces of foil you hate to throw out.

Aluminum Foil as a Funnel

Fashion a funnel of foil to neatly transfer salad dressings or condiments from tacky plastic bottles to pretty carafes or back again. Place it in the bottle and pour away.

Aluminum Foil as a Piecrust Protector

To prevent a piecrust from burning while the filling cooks, make a foil collar to deflect heat. Take a piece of foil about 25 inches long, fold it into thirds lengthwise, and fasten the ends with a paper clip. Halfway into the baking, slip the collar over the crust (as shown). Leave it on until the pie is done.

Aluminum Foil as a Grilling Helper

Really hot grill bars equal dramatic grill marks on your porterhouse. To concentrate the heat and keep it from escaping, lay a sheet of foil over the grill for 10 minutes. Peel the foil off just before cooking, scrunch it into a ball (it cools fast), and use it later to scrape any residue or ash from the bars.

Baking Sheet as a Memo Board

Baking Soda as Silver Polish

To polish silver: Wash items, then place on aluminum foil in the bottom of a pot. Add a baking-soda solution (¼ cup soda, a few teaspoons salt, 1 quart boiling water) and cover for a few seconds. The result? A chemical reaction that gets the black off the gravy boat.

Baking Soda as Hair Cleanser

If daily use of mousse or gel is weighing down your locks, add a pinch or two of baking soda to your shampoo once a week to remove product buildup. Getting squeaky-clean strands is a piece of cake.

Bundt Pan as Corn Holder

Cut corn from the cob without the mess. Place an ear in the center of a Bundt pan. As you slide the knife down, the corn will fall right into the pan.

Mold Ice With a Bundt Pan 

Give a punch bowl an elegant (and functional) touch with this floating ice sculpture. Simply fill the cake pan with water (or nonalcoholic punch), freeze, and pop out before serving.

Bundt Pan as Vertical Roaster

For a juicy bird that’s crispy all the way around, first layer potatoes, carrots, and onions on the bottom of the pan. Then season the chicken and place in the pan with the cavity over the center hole. Set the dish on a cookie sheet to collect any drippings and roast as usual.

Cake Stand as Candle Holder

Create a candle centerpiece to light up your wedding (or you dinner table) by using cake stands as platforms for votive and pillar candles in assorted sizes.
 

Cake Stand as Appetizer Server

To cut down on waiting time for hors d’oeuvres, stack a small cake stand on top of a larger one to increase your surface area for canapés or crudités and free up precious table space.

Can as Biscuit Cutter

Most biscuit cutters make overly wide biscuits, anyway―more beret than top hat. Use a tomato-paste can to achieve the proper size. First, scoop out the paste and freeze it in Tupperware or a storage bag. Then remove both the top and the bottom with a can opener and wash the interior. To prevent sticking, dip the can in flour before each cut.

Cast-Iron Pan as Recipe Board

Hang a skillet on a kitchen wall and you’ll have a convenient magnetic spot to display recipes, important reminders, and anything else your brain is too, well, fried to remember.

Chalk as Tarnish Prevention

Slow the tarnish on your good silver by tying up a few moisture-absorbing pieces in cheesecloth and store them with your cutlery for shinier flatware that reflects well on you in no time flat.

Champagne Flutes as Candle Stands

If you find yourself with a mismatched collection―or without bubbly―flip thick-walled Champagne flutes upside down to create a beautiful grouping of candle stands for a shelf or a mantel. Use heavy wineglasses for table centerpieces, as the wider mouths will provide more stability to withstand bumping.

Chip Clips as Clothes Hangers

Hold small coats in place on adult-size hangers. Use clips with rubberized grips to help items stay put. Not only will you have an organized coat closet, but you'll save money by not having to buy special kids' hangers.

Chopsticks as Flour Leveler

Use a chop stick to easily level flour in a measuring cup. Leave it in the flour canister and you won't have to rummage for a clean knife.

Coffee Filter as Wine Strainer

When the cork crumbles, salvage a bottle of wine by slowly pouring it through a filter into a pitcher or carafe. That way your $25 Fume Blanc won't go down the drain.

Coffee Filter as Yogurt Strainer

For a dip that doesn't taste watered down, strain your yogurt before using it. Secure a paper coffee filter over the mouth of a deep cup or jar with a rubber band then pour in some yogurt. Any liquid in the yogurt will drain through the filter.
 

Colander as Ice Bucket

Make ice cubes last longer at your next cocktail party: Put them in a colander set into a bowl. As they melt, the water will drain through the holes instead of sitting and turning the ice to slush.

Cookie Cutters as Cake Decorating Stencils

To stencil designs on frosted or unfrosted cakes, place cookie cutters on top and fill with sprinkles, powdered sugar, or cocoa powder. (Warning: This technique may convince guests you've taken a master class in cake decorating.)

Cooking Spray as Candlestick Cleaner

Celebrating by candlelight? Spray the inside of a votive holder with a thin coating before dropping in a tea light. After the candle has burned down, the remaining wax will slip out.

Use Cooking Spray as an Ice Repellent

Before clearing snow off a driveway, liberally spray both sides of a plastic or metal shovel with cooking spray. The ice will slide right off the oily surface. It's the easiest trick for smoother snow removal.

Wine Corks as Cabinet Silencers

Silence cabinet doors that slam by slicing a cork into thin disks and sticking them onto the inside corners of cabinets to muzzle the closing noise.

Cork as Heat Protector

For a heat protector, slip a cork or two under a lid's handle and you'll always have something safe to grab.

Dish Towel as Cutting Board Holder

To prevent your cutting board from sliding on the countertop, wet and wring out a towel, then lay it down for a nonskid work surface. There will be no more throwing in the towel while wrestling with your vegetables.

Dish Towels as Placemats

Let a colorful dish towel span the center of your table and you'll get two place mats for the price of an easy wash-and-dry staple and a Paris bistro feel (no passport required).

Dish Towel as Wine Bag

Place the bottle along one side of the fabric so that the bottle’s top meets the top of the fabric. Fold the excess material at the bottom over the bottle, forming a pocket of sorts. Then roll the dish towel evenly and secure at the neck with ribbon.

Dish Towel as Rice Steamer

Steam perfect rice. Once the rice is tender, remove the pan from the heat, place a folded towel over the saucepan, replace the lid, and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes. The towel will absorb the excess moisture for great rice with no mush.

Egg Slicer as Mushroom Chopper

Cut mushrooms into neat slivers, all without a cutting board to clean.

Egg Slicer as Strawberry Dicer

Give this classic tool a permanent spot on your kitchen counter and―presto!―you'll have perfect slivers of your favorite summer foods.

Egg Slicer as Mozzarella Slicer

Slice perfect pieces of mozzarella―and cut out the mess that goes with it. The wires divide the soft cheese into equal segments without squashing it. It's a clean cut, any way you slice it.

Dinner Fork as Garlic Press

To "puree" garlic hold the tines flat against a work surface, and vigorously rub a peeled clove across them. The result: A fine paste perfect for marinades, sauces, and vinaigrettes (and an end to hand washing the garlic press).

Fork as Carpet Fluffer

Use the tines to gently fluff plush carpet fibers back to their original height, removing dents left by heavy furniture. Now, that's a real fork lift.

Garlic Press as Seed Crusher

Don't have a mortar and pestle? Crack coriander seeds (shown), cumin seeds, and peppercorns with a garlic press instead. When a recipe calls for "freshly cracked" or "coarsely ground" seeds, fill the chamber of a garlic press and squeeze to crush.

Grapefruit Knife as Weeder

To remove weeds, use the curved blade in container gardens or tight spaces where traditional tools are too big for the job.

Grater as Muffin Saver

Revive burned muffins and cookies by running the charred bottoms lightly across the grater to help them rise from the ashes. Your baked goods will look golden brown, even if you forgot to set the timer.

Aluminum Foil as Muffin Tin Liner

Shield a muffin tin from burned-on batter drips by laying a foil sheet across it, snipping an X over each cup, then popping in liners.

Aluminum Foil as Baking Pan

Need a pan in a pinch? Use aluminum foil. Rather than struggling to dislodge your rustic apple masterpiece from its (supposedly) nonstick pan, bake it on a cookie sheet, supporting its sides with a doubled-over strip of foil. Secure the foil with a paper clip.

Apple as Tomato Ripener

To ripen tomatoes in half the time, place them in a bowl with an apple or two and cover it with plastic wrap.

Baking Sheet as Juice Collector

When slicing messy foods like tomatoes, place the cutting board on a baking sheet. It will contain any juices, and make it easy to clean up—simply rinse in the sink.

Baking Soda as Linen Freshener

Place an open box of baking soda alongside your stacks of sheets and towels to stave off mustiness.

Baking Soda as Toothpaste

When you can't squeeze another dollop out of the tube, make a paste of baking soda and water. It will get your teeth clean until you can make it to the store.

Baking Soda as Drain Unclogger

To get your drain running again (without resorting to chemicals worthy of a hazmat suit) pour ½ cup soda, then ½ cup vinegar, down a clogged drain. Cover it with a wet cloth, wait 5 minutes, uncover, and flush with steaming-hot water.

Baking Soda as Stain Remover

Clean discolored teacups and teapots by making a paste of baking soda and water. Gently rub over the stain to remove.

Baking Soda as Carpet Freshener

To absorb stale odors from carpet (and to generally freshen up a room), scatter soda on it, wait a few hours, then vacuum up the powder.

Berry Basket as Bathroom Storage

Corral bathroom essentials in an eco-friendly (but still pretty) caddy.

Bowl as Garlic Peeler

To quickly peel garlic, place cloves in a bowl and cover with another bowl, forming a sphere. Shake the bowls and the peels will flake off inside.

Bread Plate as Plant Saucer

A seldom-used bread plate from your grandmother's formal china set, placed under a small houseplant, will dress it up while serving the practical purpose of catching excess water.

Cake Dome as Terrarium

Put your cake dome to good use as a terrarium. Covering small potted plants will help speed their growth. And when birthdays roll around you can remove the plants and use it for cake.

Candle as Recipe Card Protector

Make your recipe cards spill-proof by rubbing a thin coat of wax over them.