CHEAP AND EASY DIY GADGETS

TRANSCRIPT 
I’m not lazy, just selective. I’m not willing to make something unless it’s easy, cheap, and super-useful. So in this episode of Upgrade Your Life, handy gizmos you can make for under a buck. Starting with — eeuuww —toothpaste mess in the bathroom. Cheap and easy solution — clean out a pump bottle. Fill it with toothpaste. It holds multiple tubes, which is nice, and now no caps to deal with, no dribble from the tubes … neat and tidy. One note — make sure you clean out that pump bottle well.

Staying with cleanliness, the back of your desk is a mess. Sure, you can buy fancy organizers for cords, but the cheapest way to do this: binder clips. Clip on the desk, thread the cords, you can even flip the handle to lock them in place. Genius!

Next, listening to music on your phone, but the speakers just aren’t loud enough. Solution — keg cup. Classy, right? Cut a slice out, place the device inside and it’s louder. How much louder? Well, as a tech reporter, I always have my decibel meter on hand. And the keg cup makes it ten to twelve decibels louder. This is great for music, speakerphone calls, and it also works with your iPad if you’re watching video.

Now the whole touchscreen thing is great, but sometimes you just want a stylus, the feel of a pen. Of course, you can go out and buy one but you can also make one using just a pencil, some cotton, tape, and a candy bar wrapper. Cut the candy wrapper, wrap the pencil, put the tape up high so your fingers will directly touch the wrapper. This totally works in a pinch, but if you’re gonna be doing a lot of fine work on a touch screen, spending eleven dollars for a real stylus is probably a good idea.

If you’ve ever had kids, or a geeky boyfriend, you got a tub of this stuff lying around. How about making a key-holder system? Drill hole, insert key-ring, attach to base, and voilà. Also cool, adding personalized little figures to watch over your keys.

Finally, every once in a while, you have a half a bag of chocolate chips left over. Solution — take a plastic bottle with a wide mouth, cut it, thread the bag through the neck, and now you’ve got a screw top for the occasional chocolate chip indiscretion. Thanks for watching. For Yahoo! News, I’m Becky Worley.