Better Homes and Gardens has a slideshow on 23 New Kitchen Storage Ideas. For example, there are these nifty corner cabinets:

Or this cool way of hiding the microwave (or another appliance):

Or the cat box:

And check out this roll-out entertainment cart:

That last one could have other uses, too. For example, with a butcher block or a set of cutting boards, the rolling cart could be used for all kitchen prep work to save the stress on the counter.

Read the rest of the Kitchen Storage Ideas here.

One of the things that helps my life be easier is to make food ahead of time and store it in serving sizes. Usually this means dividing soup or an entrée into freezer-safe containers and pulling them out as needed. It’s frugal and saves time. Call it homemade convenience food.

Here are three clever pre-made food ideas:

Pre-made Freezer Smoothies. The Tidy Nest divided berries and frozen yogurt into serving-sized plastic bags and stuck them in the freezer. All you have to do in the morning is grab one and dump it in the blender for a quick, nutritious breakfast.

Pre-made Manhattans For Burning Man. Brady Forrest made 80 Manhattans and vacuum-sealed them in individual bags that could later be opened and poured into a glass. He even added a dried cherry in each one. A great idea for camping. (Note: Boing Boing is down to protest the SOPA bill. It will be back up tomorrow.)

Salad In A Jar. If you want to bring a salad in your lunch, keep them from getting soggy by layering the ingredients in a jar. If you layer it just right, you can make the salads ahead of time and grab a jar on your way out the door in the morning.

I usually roll my Christmas lights and pile them in a box. They don’t get tangled, but it’s kind of a mess nevertheless. As they say on those Made-For-TV commercials, there has to be a better way.

Here are three ideas for storing Christmas lights:

Wrap Around Cardboard Tubes

[Image courtesy teachingkidsisfun.com]

One idea is to wrap the Christmas lights around a cardboard tube, either a tube from the wrapping paper or toilet paper rolls. Not only does it seem like it would work well, it’s a great way to recycle cardboard tubes.

Wrap Around Cardboard

Or, as Martha Stewart suggests, you can wrap Christmas lights around pieces of cardboard. Simply cut the cardboard out and wrap. I tried this one year and decided it wasn’t worth the trouble for me, but it might work for others.

Put In Plastic Bags

[Image courtesy Home Improvements Depot]

Finally, try putting each Christmas light in a plastic bag. You wrap as normal, put the light in the bag, and place in a a box. The idea is that the plastic keeps the lights from getting tangled and allows you to label what’s inside. You can use ziplock bags or recycle plastic shopping bags.

How do you store Christmas lights?

Thanks to Ange’s Web-log for including my post on Four Ways To Store Plastic Grocery Bags on their list of 25 Clever Ideas To Make Life Easier. There are lots of great tips on the list that are worth checking out. Here are a few I particularly liked:

Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box by securing with a rubber band.

Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a stocking over the vacuum hose.

A tip for packing. Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes.

I’m totally going to do that last one.

Read the rest of the list here.

Here is one of the better examples I’ve seen of reusing wine corks. This house from Cool House Tours recycled corks into a backsplash for the wine nook.

If I were inclined to have a wine area like this, I would definitely consider this idea. All it would take is saving the corks, cutting them to a uniform size, and attaching them to the wall for an attractive and theme-appropriate backsplash. [Unconsumption]

I like this holiday decorating idea from Apartment Therapy: hang some mirrored garlands from a metal rod and string some white lights behind.

Instant sparkle!

I like this Built-In Air Dry Clothes Rack from Stay Organized. The rack will air dry your clothes for cheaper than an electric dryer and is especially useful in the winter when it is too cold to hang your clothes outside. And it’s much neater than hanging clothes around the laundry room to dry.

If you’re committed to air drying clothes, this is a nice set up, and it would save you money in the long run. Plus it doesn’t look hard to DIY if you already have some drawers that can be converted. [re-nest]

Here’s a great one from Southern Living–turn a pumpkin into a cooler for drinks.

The idea is simple: cut the top off a wide pumpkin, scoop out the seeds, line with plastic, fill with ice, and pop in the drinks. Perfect for a Halloween party, or any other holiday party, too.

Martha Stewart has a how-to on making Haloween Pumpkin Creatures. It goes over how to carve a pumpkin to make all kinds of animals, like a porcupine:

Or a cat:

Or a snake:

And more! Great ideas.

Kate on Minieco made this spiffy Pac-Man garland as a Halloween decoration. It’s just a matter of cutting out the template from her site on black paper, attach white plastic eyes, and hang them on a string.

It’s nice to see a Halloween decoration that is different but not too scary. If you haven’t made your house festive for the season yet–I haven’t!–this might be a good way to go.