I'm still finding new ways to use clothespins. Who would have thought that I'd like them this much? Granted, I only like the clippy type of pin; the straight wood peg does nothing for me. I like using them to clip the tops of bags, both frozen veggies and cereal- forget lusting after those special plastic bag clips. Why spend more for them when you can keep a bucket of clothespins under the sink?

This week so far I've used them to hang my elastic dish covers, fasten the silicone baking sheets to the dishwasher rack for drying, keep the toddler out of cereal bags, clip a dishtowel around her neck as a makeshift bib, hold my hair out of the sink while I was doing dishes, and a few other things that I can't remember right now.

I never got into using bibs for this child. They seem to be so one-purpose. When the meal's over I still had to go and find a clean wipe to tidy her hands and face, then deal with all the cleanup and remember to get the bib to the laundry basket. And then the bibs started to get too small. They were always too big or too small, she plays with them and sometimes it was impossible to get her to sit still enough that I didn't run the risk of choking her while applying the bib... but clothespins? I can fit a whole dishtowel over her front, there's always a dry bit that I can use to wipe hands and face before de-bibing her, and I get to keep my one bucket of dishtowels for multitasking in the kitchen. Winner!

Plus, clipping the towel to one side takes one hand and minimal child-shuffling to go quickly to mealtime.