Clever New Uses for Stuff Around the House

From lemons to rubber bands to toothpicks, you'd be amazed how common household items can be re-purposed to help make your life easier.

Real Simple magazine features a popular column called "New Uses for Old Things," such as turning a pasta maker into a paper shredder and using an old checkbook as a tape measure! And using hair spray to stiffen a thread and prevent fraying while threading a needle!

And the magazine is out with a book Tuesday in which the best of those ideas are compiled. It's called "Real Simple: 869 New Uses for Old Things."

It features ideas for objects from A-to-Z, from A: aluminum foil to Z: zipper bags, to help you make the most of what you already own.

On "The Early Show," Real Simple Executive Editor Sarah Humphreys had some great examples from the book of how you can use things from around the house in unexpected ways:

Antacid Tablets

• Lift bouquet residue from the inside of a vase: Add water and one tablet. Let sit for a few minutes, swirl and rinse.

• Stage a science experiment for the kids: Fill a plastic canister a third full with water, drop in a tablet. Replace the lid, and place it on the floor and step back. The pressure sends the canister up in the air.

• Soothe a bug bite: Dissolve two tablets in a glass of water, then dab the solution onto the bite.
-use antacid tablets to clean your toilet. Drop two dissolving tablets and let the bubbles work for 20 minutes before scrubbing.

Baby Wipes

• Remove deodorant marks from a blouse: It takes just a few swipes of a wipe for those marks to disappear.

Cooking Spray

• Make cleaning candleholders a breeze: Spritz the inside before inserting a votive. After the candle burns down, the wax will easily lift out.

• Coat a cheese grater, so cheese glides off.

• Set a manicure fast: Lightly mist newly painted nails for instant smudge protection.
-prevent buildup on a shovel. Spray both sides before getting to work, and your shovel will come out cleanly every time.

Cork

•Make a compact sewing kit with a cork: Just stick in needles and pings and wrap it with a few lengths of thread.

• Pamper your floors with cork: Slice a cork into disks and glue one to each foot of heavy or often moved furniture.

• Marry pairs of earrings by sticking the posts into a cork to keep them together.

• Cap an X-acto knife before tossing it into a drawer.

• Get a blaze crackling faster: Keep corks in rubbing alcohol in sealed jar (store away from the fireplace). Just before lighting the fire, toss a few in under the kindling.

Salad Spinner

• Quickly dry a hand-washed cashmere: To cut the (endless!) time in half, use a large spinner with a pull cord to shake off excess water, then lay flat to dry.

• Distribute salad dressing evenly, or undo a vinaigrette overdose, with a gentle spin.

• Cover a cake out of doors to keep it safe from flies and pests.

Vodka

• Restore a diamond's sparkle: Before putting the stone in a soap soak, dip them briefly in vodka to dissolve any greasy buildup.

• Feshen musty clothes: A few sprays will kill bacteria and, when dry won't leave a smell.

• Loosen an adhesive bandage once a wound has healed: Dab a soaked cotton ball onto the sticky part, then peel off the bandage without pain.

• Prevent white narcissi from going limp: Add a few drops of vodka when you water them. This will stunt their growth and keep the leaves and stems upright.