NEW USES FOR SODA-CAN TABS

NEW USES FOR OLD THINGS

SODA-CAN TABS

STAY TUNED FOR MORE CLEVER WINNERS

OF OUR 2015 “NEW USES FOR OLD THINGS” CONTEST

Throughout the year, we’ll feature the smartest, most creative ideas straight from RS readers like you.

RUNNER-UP

EMERGENCY SCREWDRIVER:

Don’t have access to a toolbox? Whip out a soda-can tab to loosen a screw when you’re in a jam. Also works for opening the battery compartments of toys.

—idea from BERNADETTE PERRY, Brownsburg, Indiana

CONTEST WINNER

HANGER EXTENDER: Relief when you’re running out of closet space: Slide a sodacan tab over the handle of a hanger. Now you can hook on another hanger (and another and another) and store clothes vertically.

—idea from ALISON CLARKE BODDEN, Lafayette, California

RUNNER-UP

PICTURE HANGER: Use a glue designed for metal and ceramic (like Loctite or E6000) to adhere a sodacan tab (bent slightly outward so it can hook on a nail in the wall) to the back of a frame or a hard-to-hang item, like a large initial or a decorative plate.

—idea from KATHY POOL, Henderson, Nevada

Photograph by Aaron Dyer