Get Movin' Monday: 6 Tricks For Home Improvement
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- We've got a little bit of a different Get Movin' Monday for you this week. The holidays are pretty much over, you're cleaning up from parties and perhaps starting to think about some projects around the house.
This week, we have six different tricks you can use to make life a little easier. Sometimes you don't have all you need around the house to do a home improvement. We talked with Spike Carlsen of Family Handyman Magazine to get you moving on six awesome "Life Hacks."
Carlsen is a contributor to Eagan-based Family Handyman Magazine, where every month they print reader-submitted life hacks, like the "Cash Money Tape Measure."
"Reach in your billfold, you have a six-inch tape measure right there," Carlsen said.
If you're taking a bunch of measurements: Keep them sticky. Carlsen says take a piece of masking tape, stick it to tape and write the number of the measurement down.
Carlsen says readers of the magazine are very proud of the tips the provide to stay handy around your home.
"It's a department magazine, it's been around for 50 years. We probably get 50 to 100 submissions a month. It's a great novelty out there," Carlson said.
One of those includes a great way to "Trap A Clamp," or using a mouse trap as a clamp with a small piece of wood.
Or how about the ultimate cavity filler, toothpaste on your walls?
"If you look in the medicine cabinet, you can paint over toothpaste. Just don't use the gel kind," Carlsen said.
What's the key to remembering what color you painted a wall? Here's Carlsen's idea.
"Take the switch plate nearest the door, write the name of the paint, the model number. You've always got it," he said.
Ever needed a small drill bit in an emergency? Try the broken drill bit hack. Take a finished nail and clip head off the end. Put it in the drill and you have yourself a small drill bit.
One more: You get paint on your hands what do you use to get it off, mineral spirits? If you don't have that - try vegetable oil. It works.
Family Handyman has just revised its "Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual" with all of these hacks that come from reader suggestions along with all sorts of do-it-yourself information.