Keep your peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich from getting soggy by spreading peanut butter on both pieces of bread and then spreading the jelly in the middle.

When I go on camping trips, there are always some boys who stay up late and are really loud. I always bring foam earplugs so I can get a good night’s sleep. They also work great as bobbers the next day when we go fishing.

If you are into LEGO Bionicles, try not to take them apart unless you have to. I’ve taken pieces apart and broken several.

Keep the number stickers on your derby racecar by putting clear nail polish over the stickers after you put them on your car.

Use the clips that hold old socks together as a money clip.

For perfectly round pancakes, put the batter in a turkey baster and squeeze it onto the griddle.

When you are modeling with clay, put it in a bag with a damp paper towel so it won’t dry out.

For a Klondike derby, always bring extra rope. A lot of extra rope.

If you have a good baseball card that you want to keep in mint condition, put it in an individual plastic case instead of a binder with sheets. Cases keep cards in much better condition.

Tape four or five air-pump needles together on a thin strip of duct tape. This makes them easy to find in your junk drawer.

Whenever you are doing a hobby that involves measuring, make sure you measure, then double-check the measurement before you do anything else with it.

When collecting tree leaves, dip them in vegetable oil and cover with wax paper. This will preserve them for a long time. They will not dry out and tear.

For all photographers: When shooting in daylight, stand with your back to the sun, if possible.

Save empty Altoids tins. They make a great place to store small parts, such as the gas pedal for model cars, that might get lost if put in a big box.

Use canning rings to cook eggs for sandwiches made with English muffins or hamburger buns.

If you put a dent in a plastic part of a model, mix wood glue and sawdust together, place in the dent and sand down. When you paint it, it will look as good as new.

To keep your neckerchief slide from falling off on the go, wrap a rubber band around the middle of the neckerchief below the slide. The rubber band will stop it from coming off.

Tired of playing a super-slow game of air hockey? Use some boat wax to coat the surface of the table to get the game flowing at top speed!

Use old wooden clothespins to clamp the small pieces of your wood-frame model when glueing. The clothespins have just the right amount of pressure.

If you are going on a plane and bringing trekking poles, put them in a PVC or map tube.

Whenever you skin a walking stick or carve something, save the shavings for campfire tinder. Put the shavings in a plastic bag and put it with your Scout gear for your next camp-out. Save a lot because you will need it.

ALL WIRED UP Antennas, small gun barrels, flagstaffs and other fine details look clumsy on plastic models. Substitute thin wire to make your project look better. Beading or jewelry wire works well. Find it in craft stores. This wire comes in gauges from 22 (the size of a pencil lead) to 32 (hair). Snip it [...]

Always forgetting to take stuff to school? Just put it smack in front of your bedroom door before going to bed so you’ll trip over it in the morning as a reminder!

Use clear plastic storage containers with dividers to store small Lego pieces. It’s much easier to find them when I’m building something, instead of searching for them in my larger storage containers.

Add baby powder to the inside of the parachute of your model rocket. This will help you see whether or not the parachute deployed.

Before camping trips, my troop collects pine needles for our campfires. We let them dry for a week, and they work perfectly.

Put wax over the heads of matches to keep them waterproof. All you have to do to use them is crack and pull the wax off.

During a camping trip, make sure to change your socks before going to bed. If you wear the socks you wore all day, the sweat in them will make you much colder.

How do you take out a broken light bulb from a lamp socket without cutting yourself? Just put a potato through the two metal pieces inside the bulb and twist counterclockwise!

YOU PUT A LOT OF THOUGHT INTO YOUR MODEL. Put just as much into the base. Display your aircraft on a base of gray cardboard cut to look like a runway’s concrete slabs. Or make Popsicle-stick planking that looks like an aircraft carrier’s deck. Another option: Sprinkle sand on a glue-coated wooden base. Paint [...]

If you have a model rocket that goes 800 feet or more and you worry about losing it, try this: Cut a hole in the middle of the parachute about three inches in diameter. It will slow the model down, and it will fall straight.

If you have a lot of pocket patches that have a loop lying around, clip them onto a carabiner (D-clip) and clip it to your daypack. If the patches don’t have loops on them, you can add them by folding a piece of ribbon into a circle and sewing it to the back of the [...]

If you have a CD that has a scratch or doesn’t work in your computer or PlayStation anymore, it makes a really good reflector for your camping trip.

Black sandpaper makes great asphalt roads for dioramas. Just paint a white stripe down the middle.

Cut a hole in an old tennis ball and glue the tennis ball to a broomstick. Use your new tool to remove black scuff marks from a floor. Rub the ball over the marks and they disappear.

Having trouble starting a fire? Melt a candle in a saucepan. Coil up some string and dip it into the melted candle. Then be sure to put the coiled and waxed string near the tinder. Light the string and watch it burn for hours.

When painting small lead soldiers, use a toothpick instead of a brush. You’ll have to make more trips to the paint tray, but using a toothpick allows you to keep lines neat and defined and makes it easier to paint the small areas, such as belt buckles or eyes.

In a pinch, use a paper clip or penny as a guitar pick.

Whenever I come back from fishing, I use toothpaste to wash my hands. This completely removes the fish smell.

To create icicles on a roof in a diorama, make tapered strings (the shape of an icicle) on a piece of cardboard with hot glue, then peel them off and glue them onto your roofs.

A coffee can makes a good emergency gear container. This past summer for camp I was able to pack a poncho, emergency blanket, fire starter, rope, first-aid kit, fishing line and hook in the can. All was protected due to the plastic lid, and in a pinch you could cook in the can.

Hobby shops sell an expensive glue formula for grass in scenery. I have found that two parts white glue and one part water works just as well, if not better. Simply mix, paint on a flat surface and sprinkle on hobby grass.

Use leather to make replacement hinges for most large ice chests. Cut a piece the size of the original hinge. Punch holes in the leather in the appropriate locations to accommodate the screws from the old hinge. Then simply attach the leather hinge using the original screws.

When you are building a model with small metal pieces (like screws), set a magnet on the table. The pieces will stick to it and keep them from getting lost.

Make a tennis ball caddy from a plastic gallon water jug. With scissors, cut a circle on the opposite side from the jug’s handle. The circle must be big enough so tennis balls can go through. You can carry up to 10 balls the next time you play your favorite sport.

IF YOU DAMAGE A CLEAR PLASTIC MODEL PART WITH GLUE OR PAINT, YOU CAN FIX IT. Be careful and patient. Start with ultra-fine sandpaper. Rub it gently over the damaged area until it’s smooth. Put some toothpaste on a cotton swab or fine cloth and rub it over the area. Rinse. Repeat until the piece [...]

When you pack your stuff away after a camp-out, take the batteries out of your flashlight, lantern, air pump and any other items. Doing this will prevent corrosion by the batteries.

The instructions for paper ship and plane models say to use glue and tape, but I like to use rubber cement. Rubber cement dries quicker than glue and looks better than tape.

When you go skiing or just play in the snow, you can protect the space between your gloves and jacket from snow and moisture. Take two old soccer socks and cut a thumbhole and a bigger hole for your fingers where the toes usually go. This works great!

My troop collects lint from the clothes dryer at home and brings it on camping trips to help start our campfires. It works like a charm!