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How To: 7 Great Things Black Pepper Can Be Used for Besides Cooking

Like table salt, black pepper has its unexpectedly handy uses that goes beyond seasoning your meals at the dining table. You can use black pepper to keep ants from invading your home, drive away bugs from eating your delicious garden vegetables, temporarily fix a radiator leak, and even stop bleeding on a minor wound.

How To: 9 Common Household Items That Can Unstick Your Stuck Zipper

Sooner or later you're going to have to deal with a stuck zipper, whether it's on your favorite jacket, backpack, or pair of pants. Simply tugging hard on the zipper tab hardly ever works, but a few things lying around your house might do the trick.

How To: 9 DIY Ways to Painlessly Remove Splinters from Your Skin

Removing a stubborn splinter from your finger or foot is never fun, especially if it involves digging into your skin with a needle or tweezers. But if you use common household or food items around the house, you can remove splinters from your skin very easily and quite painlessly.

How To: 10 DIY Ways to Repair Nicks & Scratches on Wooden Furniture

If you've had wooden furniture in your living space for a while, chances are that you've accumulated at least a couple of nicks and scratches on the surface. Before you spend money on a professional wood refinisher to restore the surface, try out some of the DIY techniques below using common household items to minimize the visibility of the scratch.

How To: Send a Secret Message Inside an Egg

Whether it's for Valentine's Day or you simply want to send a note to someone in a unique way, a secret message inside of a seemingly untouched raw egg is the perfect way to go.

How To: 9 DIY Ways to Eliminate Static Cling Without Using Dryer Sheets

If you ever need to get rid of static cling quickly while on the go, simply run the article of clothing through a metal hanger to dispel the static. You could also place lotion on your skin underneath the clothes you are wearing to get rid of the dryness that is causing the static cling.

How To: 4 Super Easy Napkin-Folding Techniques for Your Next Dinner Party

For your next dinner party, impress your guests with some intricate-looking, but actually super-easy, napkin origami when you're setting up the table.

The Dried Beans Cheat Sheet: Soaking & Cooking Times for 15 Different Beans

While it may be tempting to rely on canned beans to save time, going through the process of preparing dried beans for cooking can actually be better for you in the long run—for both your physical and financial health.

How To: Fold a Chopsticks Rest from Its Paper Wrapper

The next time you go out for sushi with friends, impress your company by fashioning your own chopstick rest using the paper wrapper the wooden chopsticks come in. Keeping the ends of your chopstick off the table surface makes for good hygiene (who knows when was the last time the table was really wiped clean?), and there is no awkward moment of getting your chopsticks off your plate when your server whisks your finished plate away mid-meal. Gotta love functional origami.

How To: Chill a Lukewarm Can of Soda in Less Than 5 Minutes

A lukewarm can of soda placed in a refrigerator can take about 45 minutes to chill. On the other hand, a lukewarm can of soda placed in a bowl of ice, water, and table salt can take less than 5 minutes.

How To: 11 Easy DIY Techniques for Opening a Super-Tight Jar

Have a hard-to-open jar? If it's never been opened, the air pressure inside the jar is making it harder to break the seal. If it's been in the fridge, it's possible that the lid shrunk slightly—just enough to be extremely frustrating.

How To: Make Hanging Dried Persimmons (Hoshigaki)

A seasonal tradition brought over from Japan to America by Japanese-American farmers, making hoshigaki (as they're called in Japanese) is a fun outdoor autumn project you can do before the winter season really kicks in. Hang a bunch of peeled persimmons on a string outside, wait for three to five weeks, and harvest yourself some naturally dried persimmons during the winter months. Though peeling the fruit and then regularly massaging the fruit every few days after hanging may be more labor in...

How To: Make & Grow Your Own Chia Pet

If you missed out on the Chia Pet craze from the '80s and '90s, don't worry—it's never too late to build and make your own weirdly head-shaped thing with grass hair growing on top.

How To: 10 Alternative Uses for Your Old Oatmeal

Oatmeal may not be the most exciting breakfast option in the world, but in uncooked form the oats can be used to neutralize odors in your refrigerator, relieve your dog's itchy skin, soak up kitchen oil spills and treat your poison ivy or chicken pox itch.

How To: 11 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

Metabolism is the process by which your physical body converts what you eat and drink into energy that your body needs to function.

How To: 6 Ways to Remove Ghastly Scuff Marks from Shoes Using Common Household Items

It'd be a financial burden to have to buy new shoes every time a current pair gets scuffed up, but thankfully there are some easy DIY tricks for saving us that trip to the shoe store. Scuff marks can easily be remove from shoes and sneakers using common household items found in your medicine cabinet or in your desk.

How To: 7 DIY Ways to Remove Oil Stains from Your Asphalt Driveway

If you have an oil stain on your asphalt driveway, wipe up the excess oil with an absorbent cloth or mop it up, then act quickly using the common household items below to make sure that it doesn't become a permanent eyesore or a headache to clean up later.

More Than Just Candles: 12 Practical, Surprising Uses for Beeswax

Beeswax is a natural wax produced by honeybees and can also be used for your home. Commonly associated with making your own DIY candles, beeswax is the perfect DIY product for making your own lip balm, non-toxic crayons, mustache wax, and more.

How To: Fall Back Asleep After Waking Up in the Middle of the Night

If you wake up in the middle of the night, avoid reaching for your laptop to check emails, or your TV remote to catch a few late-night shows. Instead, keep the light in your bedroom dim and do something relaxing like de-stressing breathing exercises, meditation, light yoga, or going to another room and solving a jigsaw puzzle or listening to relaxing music.

How To: 11 Non-Dental Uses for Your Old Toothbrush

We all know to should swap out our toothbrushes one every three to four months, but did you know your used Toothbrush still has a number of handy uses once its time in your bathroom is done? You can use an old toothbrush indefinitely to remove silk from corn, exfoliate your lips, tame your unruly eyebrows or clean your cheese grater before sticking it in the dishwasher.

How To: 18 Clever Uses for Empty Film Canisters

Film canisters, remember those? Those black containers with the grey lids that used to contain... camera film?

How To: 12 Non-Cooking Uses for Butter

Though it may seem like sacrilege for some to use butter for something other than to flavor your food with delicious buttery goodness, butter has many other surprisingly practical uses, like keeping your hard cheeses mold-free or helping you swallow your pills.

How To: Open a Door Chain Lock or Bar Latch from the Outside

Assuming that you're not a burglar-in-training, you may one day find yourself in a situation where you have to break into a home through a door chain lock. But what to do if you have no time to wait for a locksmith?

How To: Make a Borax Crystal Snowflake

If you're tired of using the same old ornaments on your Christmas tree year after year, then it's time to experiment with borax snowflakes. It's not only a fun decoration to make, it's a great science project to try out with family and friends. All you need for to make DIY crystal snowflakes at home are pipe cleaners, borax, a wide-mouth jar, string, a pencil, and boiling water.

How To: Make a Christmas Cracker

If you have a bunch of spare toilet paper tubes lying around, you're in luck this holiday season. With wrapping paper, a couple trinkets, and a pack of cracker snaps, you can make your very own Christmas crackers.

How To: Make the Perfect Cup of Hot Chocolate Using Real Chocolate Bars

Though making hot chocolate out of instant mix is pretty easy, there is no comparison when it comes to making your own homemade hot chocolate out of quality dark chocolate bars, whole milk, brown sugar, and your own favorite fresh spices.

How To: 9 Ways to Cool Down Your Burning Hot Mouth After Eating Really Spicy Foods

Mouth burning with pain from eating too much hot sauce or some seriously "spicy" food? Well, ignore your first instinct and steer clear of that cup of cold water — it won't help. Instead, reach for a glass of milk, a lemon slice, a spoonful of sugar, or some starchy bread to dilute the painful heat on your tongue.

Street Art 101: How to Make a Wheatpaste Poster

Itching to make your own guerrilla-style street art on the side of buildings, freeway overpasses, and abandoned billboards? The beauty of street art is that you don't need an expensive canvas or frame to display your creative expression.

DIY Cat Repellent Spray: 3 All-Natural Recipes That Are Safe for Indoor & Outdoor Cats

Whether you want to prevent your cat from scratching up the couch or deter stray cats from using your front yard as their personal litter box, a DIY cat repellent spray can go a long way in keeping unwanted furry guests away.

How To: Do a Very Basic Ikebana Flower Arrangement

Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, dates back to over 500 years ago and is still practiced as a highly respected cultural art form in modern-day Japan.

How To: Create Giant, Reusable Bubbles Out of Elmer's Glue & Liquid Starch

Creating giant, reusable bubbles at home is easy, and it's a fun project for children. Just dump a whole bottle of non-toxic Elmer's Clear School Glue into a bowl, add fine glitter and watercolors (or food coloring), and slowly mix together Sta-Flo Liquid Starch to form a pliable concoction.

How To: 10 Easy DIY Methods for Removing Ink Stains with Household Items

Need to remove an ink stain from your carpet, clothing, wooden furniture, or new pair of jeans? Thankfully, as with most DIY stain removal techniques, you can probably concoct your own stain-removing solution from common household items in your bathroom or kitchen. Some examples include white vinegar, corn starch, toothpaste, WD-40 spray, dishwashing soap, hair spray, and even milk. Yes, milk.

How To: Make a Cheap, DIY Fog Machine for Your Halloween Party

Need to add some spooky ambient fog to your super-scary Halloween party? Rather than shelling out money for a fog machine you'll probably only use once a year, make a trip to the nearest drug store and pick up a bottle of glycerin, a gallon of distilled water, a 2-liter bottle of cola, a disposable mini-pie tin, and a big candle in a jar.

How To: Make Your Own Recycled Paper at Home

If you've ever wondered how paper gets recycled, find out for yourself by turning your used, unwanted paperwork into fresh homemade paper that you can use again. Any type of paper can be recycle, whether it's used computer paper, paper grocery bags, or old flyers.

How To: 21 Cool Ways to Use a Paper Clip

A single paper clip can go a long way. Having just one of these ubiquitous office supplies can make you a smartphone mount, replace your broken zipper tab, scratch your lottery ticket, and eject the CD from your stuck DVD drive.

How To: Make Your Own Sweetened Condensed Milk at Home

To make your own sweetened condensed milk at home, all you need are milk, sugar, butter, and about two hours of your time.

How To: 9 Mind Hacks for Avoiding Procrastination

Are you dreading a big, tedious task on your to-do list? Commit to only doing 10 minutes of it or only the very first minimal step. By lowering the hurdle for getting the task started, it is very likely that once you start doing it, you won't feel so bad about getting the rest of the task completed.

How To: 14 Non-Cookie Uses for Cookie Cutters

In addition to turning boring sheets of cookie dough into fun and whimsical shapes, cookie cutters can be used to make fruits, vegetables, cheeses, sandwiches, and popsicles look more interesting, to name just a few.

How To: Remove Pet Hair from Anything—Anywhere

Need to quickly remove cat or dog hair from your living room couch before guests arrive? For a simple and effective technique, cover your hand with a damp rubber dishwashing glove and run your hand over the upholstery surface. The rubber glove should pick up the furs, and if you want to reuse the glove, simply rinse it off (just make sure to use a sink strainer to catch the hairs).

How To: 5 DIY Methods for Unclogging a Clogged Toilet Without a Plunger

Got a clogged toilet on your hands? Before you call the plumber or bust out the plunger, try one of the five DIY methods listed below, all of them incorporating common tools or ingredients easily found in your closet, kitchen or medicine cabinet.