New Uses for Easter Things

Here’s an idea for all those eggs you hard-boiled: Use their broken eggshells to clean the hard-to-reach places in bottles and vases. Drop some crushed shells in the bottle, add warm water and a drop of dishwashing liquid, and give it a good swirl. The shells will scrape off the gunk you can’t get to, so you can save your elbow grease for the dinner dishes.

Buy a few baskets at after-Easter sales and use them to organize your gardening gadgets, summer beach take-alongs, and stray boxes of nails and screws.

Courtesy of reader Anna Victoria Reich of Albuquerque, New Mexico

Don't trash that plastic Easter grass (but do keep it away from your pets; it can be dangerous if consumed). Use it as packing materials for delicate items—so you won’t need to worry whether Uncle Bob's favorite Chianti will make it to his wine cellar unscathed.

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

Maximize your green quotient by recycling that Easter basket for a May Day treat. Simply fill the basket with treats—a batch of fresh-baked cookies, candies, flowers and candles, or something more elaborate—for a surprise on your best friend or relative's doorstep.