It feels great to organize a jewelry box, sock drawer or shoe rack. But before you toss, donate or otherwise discard your accessory flotsam, consider reusing it. Many women have encountered a tangled ball of necklaces at the bottom of their jewelry box. Before you start tugging and making knots worse, grab some baby oil and stick pins. Protect your working surface with newspaper or an old magazine and lay the knots out as flat as you can. Apply a few drops of baby oil to them, and work them out with the pins. Next, tackle that motley crew of earrings you have. Some may not have backs, and that’s OK. Many jewelry stores sell extra backs, but if you need an economical solution, then try breaking the eraser off of a pencil. Push gently through the post of the earring, and voila. If you have a few large mismatched earrings sans mates or even brooches that are broken or unused, then save them! You can do a few things with them.

Remove the post or pin with wire cutters, and use a hot glue gun to secure a magnet to the back. You’ll have a pretty way to hang kids’ artwork, reminders or whatever you want on the fridge. For tiny earrings that lack a match, use them to repair eyeglasses in which the screw has fallen out. Thread the post through the hole and secure with an earring back to avoid using the not-so-cool looking tape solution. A seldom-worn brooch can double as a sweater securer. Just gather any excess material in the back of a too-large cardigan and secure with the brooch for a better fit. And for those hair accessories you’re not using, why not use a flat barrette or bobby pin as a bookmark? Or grab one of those giant banana clips from the ’90s to secure your towel around your body post-shower. There are tons of beautiful uses for your old accessories!