Reader Organizing Tip Extra Pool Noodles? Here’s what we’ve done! We have a bunch of extra pool noodles hanging around our house, but no longer have a pool in our yard. Here’s what we’ve done with our extra noodles: • Blade Guard. We use our noodles for protecting the blades of our saws and other sharp tools like our hedge trimmer. Take a noodle and shorten it so it matches the size of your blade. Once you’ve done that, cut open ONE side of the noodle. Then slip the noodle over the teeth of the blade…you are now protected from the sharp edges. • Knee pad. When we wash the floors, do some gardening, or perform any job that requires us to be on our knees, we cut a noodle in half and use it as a knee pad. Works great! • Boot Shapers. Cut a noodle in half and place it lengthwise into your boot. This is an extremely inexpensive way to maintain your boot’s shape. • Backyard games. We’ve used our noodles to play backyard games. Here is one simple game: hammer 1/4 to 1/2 inch dowels into the ground, about 2-3 feet apart. Slide the each end of the noodle onto the dowel and you have a wicket, or a small arched gate. Make several of these wickets and you have an instant soccer obstacle course or a croquet game. For croquet, use a noodle as your stick and blow up a balloon for the ball. Entertaining for all ages. • Borders. We’ve had small children in our home, so a quick baby proofing technique is to slice one side of the noodle, and slip it over the edge of sharp furniture, the hearth of your fire, a television table, and so on.  • Car Door Protector. We have a two car garage, but it’s still a tight fit to get both cars into the garage. My husband made a slit on one side of the noodle, opened the noodle as wide as it could go, and attached it to the side of the garage. Now we don’t have to worry about hitting the side of the garage with our car door. Carol K, Staten Island, NY Carol and her husband have recently become empty nesters...and spend lots of time thinking up new uses for old things.