Time to pull out all those extra champagne and wine corks from the holiday festivities. If you only have a few corks, shave off slivers and glue them to the bottom of an uneven chair or table legs. It’ll keep them steady and — since cork is soft and springy — it will protect the floors, too. If you have a bunch of corks, combine them together inside of a large pipe clamp (available from the hardware store plumbing department). Screw the clamp tight around the corks and you’ve made an instant trivet! Use it in the kitchen to keep surfaces protected from hot pots.

-Danny Seo

PS-Got another idea on recycling wine corks? Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!

Do you have a whole collection of unwanted CDs or DVDs gathering dust around the house? Recycle a big collection into a functional dumbbell. Buy a 12-inch threaded rod from the hardware store and four nuts that will fit snug on the rod. Attach two nuts on each end of the rod and twist until they are about 3 inches in. Thread 25 CDs on each side of the rod and then secure with another nut. Use the 5-pound dumbbell when doing crunches; it’s soft enough to rest on your stomach during a sit-up to add just enough resistance to your workout routine. 

-Danny Seo

PS-Got another idea how to recycle old CDs?  Share your comment here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!