If you’re anything like me, your impression of clothespins is probably an outdated one. You probably imagine them for their designed purpose: hanging clothes off a line to dry. You also probably imagine your grandmother doing it. Truthfully, I have a small bucket of clothespins in my laundry room…but I’ve never really used them. It almost feels like they’re there for show! This got us thinking, are there more functional ways we can use these little contraptions? If they’re just going to sit around and collect dust, there must be something else we can do with them.

Luckily, the brains at PSYmedia were on the same wavelength as us! They’ve brought us this video via Rumble which showcases six cool ways that you can reuse your clothespins around the house.

Whether you use them regularly or aren’t quite sure if you’ve ever picked one up, these clothespin projects are quick, cheap, and will be so helpful (and cute) in your home.

1. Napkin Holder

Part of entertaining is adding a flare to your place so it’s party-worthy. That could be found in the food, the decoration, or the little details of the table. In this project, you’ve got an easy, DIY piece of party flare that you can make using clothespins and a hot glue gun.

Start by making a base of about four clothespins, which have been pulled apart, glued side-to-side (this can be as wide as you’d like). Then pull apart a few more pins and glue them in two fan-like shapes; one fan will go on each side of your base. Just like that, you have a unique spot to store your table napkins!

2. Pot Holder

When you’re serving large dishes, you’ll need a pot holder to put them on so you don’t damage the surface of your table. Pulling apart clothespins and gluing them back together into a large, fanned-out circle will get you a simple pot holder in minutes!

It’ll look like it was from Pottery Barn…but it only cost you about ten minutes of your time.

3. Pencil Sharpener

This is the cutest take on a pencil sharpener that we’ve ever seen! Buy a cheap little pencil sharpener from the Dollar Store (or disassemble one you’ve got right at home) and take out the small blade part. Be very careful as you screw the blade onto one half of a clothespin – an voila! You have a rustic little pencil sharpener that does the same job but in style.

4. Razor Blade

In a similar fashion, you can give your straight edged razor or box cutter a makeover, too! Rather than gluing the two pieces of a clothespin back in their normal arrangement to make a pencil sharpener, hot glue the two flat sides of these halves together. With the blade sticking out, you now have a cute little box cutter for tough chores or fun crafts!

5. Earbud Holder

Nothing gets more easily tangled than earbuds! Keep them in place and untangled for each use by making a little earbud holder. All you have to do is glue together the flat sides of two, whole clothespins – and that’s it! You can wrap the earbuds around and use the two clips to hold the plug and the buds respectively.

That might be the easiest and most useful hack of all.

6. Multi-Hanger

If your regular hanger just isn’t doing it for you, upgrade it! By gluing four or five clothespins along the bar of a regular hanger, you can transform this household item into a tool for the laundry room or a stylish scarf holder.

Do you use clothespins in a creative way? Share your project ideas in the comments section below.