No More Bungie Scars

This retired stuffed animal has found a new lease on life as paint protection from bungie cord scratches. See this and other clever tips from MAKE columnist Tim Anderson on the link above.

A 3-Jar Brush-Cleaning Solution

Clean brushes with a 3-stage paint thinner jar/rack system. When done, let the paint settle at the bottom, salvage the clear paint thinner, clean the paint sludge out of the bottom, and repeat.

Staying Power

Attach your chuck key to a retractable key ring to keep it from getting lost.

Tidy Drilling

Tape a cone-shaped coffee filter under where you're drilling into a wall to catch the falling debris.

Clip Your Keys

Keep track of your car keys by attaching them to a binder clip: Squeeze the metal handles to remove them from the clip, loop one or both handles through your key, and reattach to the clip.

--Max Eliaser, MAKE engineering intern

Don't Lose Your Lens Cap

Stick a small lapel clip to the outside of your camera lens with outdoor mounting tape (chosen over regular double-sided foam tape for additional strength). Then when you remove your lens cap, you can clip it to the camera strap.

Lapel clips can be removed from the cord on a freebie wired headset from a long-dead cell phone. The metal clip on one of those clear vinyl ID badge holders would also probably work.