Nail polish is nice on your fingers and toes, but there are several other uses that might help make your life a little easier.
1. Waterproof your labels. Use clear polish as a coating to prevent ink from ruining labels.
2. Stop! don't lick that envelope, seal it with nail polish instead.
3. Stiffen fibers. Tell Grandma, she can thread her own needles now.
4. Costume jewelry chipping, peeling or changing colors? Try clear polish while they're still new and they'll stay new a lot longer. This works on belt buckles too.
5. Now your costume jewelry is all polished up, but the stone popped out. No problem, just reset it using a drop of clear nail polish as glue.
6. After salvaging your jewelry and resetting lost stones, you realize you wasted your time because you never liked them anyway. You just couldn't pass on the sale. It happens to all of us a time or two. That's ok, just use different colored polishes to change the color of the stones. Voila, new jewelry, that you bought on sale and really really like.
7. If you're a creative person and have an eye for color, try mixing polishes to match the color of a chipped vase or ceramic piece. Now Grandma will never know that you chipped her heirloom vase.
8. After making that chipped vase look new again, your creative juices are flowing and you just can't stop there. Grab a bowl, water, and a handful of polishes to marble papier-mâché boxes, bottles, or other small items you want to decorate. I found a lovely tutorial here by Kelly Bryden.
9. Get a rip in your pantyhose? Dab on a little clear polish to keep it from running. Did you lose that little piece of plastic on the tip of your shoe laces? Use polish to prevent the ends from fraying. Also works on ribbon.
10. Got loose screws? No, not in your head, on your nails. No, not those nails, the screw type. For a little extra hold, coat your screw with polish, then let them set.
11. Color coding. Have a bunch of keys and you don't remember which are which, let Sally Hansen color code them for you.
12. Since we're color coding our keys, why don't we use glow-in-the-dark nail polish so we can find them to get in the door at night. No more front door dancing to get to the bathroom in time.
13. Mark levels on a container. Track how much wine is missing from your bottle in the fridge, or that bottle of liquor under the cabinet. Ok, really, the idea here is to mark off measuring points so that you know how much of an ingredient to use in a container, or marking the inside of a bucket, but the alcoholic beverage thing is a good idea too.
14. Label poison containers. Draw a hot red X on poisonous products in your cabinet so those kiddies don't get shaving cream confused with whipped cream.
15. So the kiddies no longer eat your shaving cream, but the can is rusting a ring in your medicine cabinet. Well, you might not be able to prevent rusting, but you can stave it off for a while. Try painting the metal ringed bottom with clear polish to avoid those rusty rings on surfaces. You may have to redo it periodically if the polish starts to wear.
16. We haven't left the bathroom yet. The toilet screws are going to rust on your brand new toilet seat. Paint them with a couple coats of clear polish to keep them from rusting so soon.
17. Your kids using your wood furniture as makeshift drums? You can fill the nicks with clear polish. It dries shiny
18. What? They used your CAR for a drum?! After you tie them up... I mean after you lovingly, but firmly discipline them, dab clear polish over the scratches on your auto for a temporary seal to avoid rusting. Then hold their allowance indefinitely to pay for a more permanent repair.
19. The kids are still at it. Now they've put a tear in your window shade. I know, you're tired of their shenanigans, but you can seal the rip with a dab of clear polish.
20. Little Jimmy and Johnny are fighting over who's truck belongs to who. Your fault, you bought them in the exact same color. But it's ok, because before you gave them the toys, you painted a red dot of polish under the wheel of Johnny's truck, and Blue one under Jimmy's. Problem solved. But next time, just buy different color trucks.
21. Smooth the edge of a nicked mirror or glass (not the ones you drink out of).
22. Paint a coat of clear polish over rough or splintered places on wooden hangers to prevent snags in your garments.
23. You're planning a camping trip for the family, but you remember what happened the last time when dear hubby fell in the lake with the box of matches in his pocket. It was one long, cold night that you don't ever want to repeat. This time, you're smarter. You'll coat all the matches with nail polish to waterproof them.
24. Your best friend forgot to mention that she gave blood today and fainted at the bar after tossing back three shots of tequila. Don't give blood and drink alcohol, lesson learned. Just open that bottle of polish you keep in your purse just for these instances (your friend is a lush) and wave the bottle under her nose. Instant smelling salts.
Nail polish does a lot more than keep your nails looking fashionable. It can make your day-to-day just a little easier. Give a few of these ideas a try and let me know how it works out for you.
Ciao for now.
