NEW YORK, March 27, 2008
Making New Things Out Of Old In Your Home
Real Simple Magazine's Kris Connell Points The Way
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Play CBS Video Video Reuse That Old Stuff Instead of discarding those old tissue boxes, use them to store plastic bags. Or, use leftover epsom salts to fertilize your plants. Kris Connell shares these ideas and more for reusing old stuff.
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Kris Connell (CBS/EARLY SHOW)
Kris Connell of Real Simple magazine offered tips on The Early Show Thursday on how to transform ordinary things at home to get extraordinary results.
Why let them just sit around?!
The items:
TISSUE BOX
Original Purpose: Helping you through a weepie movie.
Aha! Use: Storing plastic grocery bags under the kitchen sink. After "Terms of Endearment" has exhausted your supply of tissues, stuff the bags into the empty box.
Reward: Restored order in your cabinets and bags ready for reuse.
"Those plastic bags from the grocery store multiply -- they've overtaken the cupboard under my sink," Connell says. "This is a quick fix: Stuff them in an empty tissue box. It already has a handy slot for pulling out the bags one at a time. You can use them for vegetable cuttings and to wrap up wet umbrellas in your handbags -- all kinds of ways."
RAISINS/b>
Original Purpose: Making bran less boring.
Aha! Use: Restoring bubbles to Champagne that has lost most of its fizz. Drop a raisin into the open bottle a few minutes before pouring, and any last gasps of carbon dioxide left in the wine will stick to the raisin's ridged surface, then release again as tiny bubbles.
Reward: A little more sparkle
"Champagne is worthless without the bubbles," Connell notes. "Here's a party trick for when your bubbly goes flat: Drop a raisin or two into the open bottle. The carbon dioxide left in the wine will stick to the ridges of the raisin and release as tiny bubbles. We heard this one through the grapevine! Ha."
EPSOM SALT
Original puspose: Easing sore muscles.
Aha! Use: Fertilizing houseplants. Feed plants with a solution of two-tablespoons-of-salt-to-a-gallon-of-water once a month. Magnesium and sulfur from the salt make leaves grow bushier and encourage flowering plants to bloom more often.
Reward: A greener indoor garden.
"Moving to green thumbs -- forget the fertilizer and reach for the Epsom salt," Connell suggests. Once a month, add two tablespoons of salt to a gallon of water and feed your plants. The salt has two key ingredients -- magnesium and sulfur -- that are both in fertilizer -- that make leaves grow bushier and bloom more often."
SHOWER CAP
Original purpose: Protecting your hair when you would rather not lather, rinse, and repeat.
Aha! Use: Preventing dirty or sand-covered shoes from mingling with (and soiling) neatly packed clothes.
Reward: Clean getaways.
"If you're coming back from a wonderful beach vacation, but just can't seem to get all the sand away, don't risk it by throwing in your shoes with the rest of your clothes and getting sand everywhere!" Connell exclaims. "Most hotels provide shower caps that you can snag, wrap your shoes in, and stick in the bottom of your bag."
KIDS' FLOATIES
Original purpose: Keeping your little boy buoyant during an afternoon dip.
Aha! Use: Buffering breakables in a suitcase. Place delicate items, such as wine bottles and precious trinkets, inside an inflated arm floaty, and it will shield against bumps, bruises, and breaks.
Reward: Everything arrives in one piece.
HAIR SPRAY
Original Purpose: Freeze-framing a hairstyle.
Aha! Use: Threading a needle with ease. Spray the tip of the thread with a quick shot. When dry, the stiff end will slide effortlessly through the eye.
Reward: A stitch in (less) time!
HAIR IRON
Original Purpose: Smoothing out hair kinks.
Aha! Use: Ironing out the wrinkled wrapping ribbons that were tied around your birthday presents, ironing between buttons, where a regular iron doesn't fit. A straightening iron also works well on collar creases and minor wrinkles.
Reward: Recycled bows without the telltale creases from the previous gift box or looking perfectly pressed when you're pressed for time.
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- I have "concocted" many similar ideas over several yrs mostly pertaining to ideas 4 kids (fro crafts to costumes)as mom of 4 always need to cut costs i''ve had suggestions 2 publish/market or start website w/ideas and Q/A fro other moms. Any hints on where to start?
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