Thrifty Thursday: Kool-Aid

That favorite, cheap past-time of a drink can actually come in handy in some areas around the home...

Color wall paints
Mix any flavor of unsweetened Kool-Aid into water-based latex paint to alter its color. Or mix unsweetened Kool-Aid with water to create your own water colors, but just remember, Kool-Aid stains can be tough to remove.

Make play makeup lip gloss
Make some tasty lip gloss for little girls playing dress-up. Let the girls pick their favorite pre-sweetened Kool-Aid flavor. Blend a package of the drink with 3 tablespoons of vegetable shortening, then microwave for one minute. Transfer to a 35 mm film canister and refrigerate overnight.

Clean your dishwasher
Is the inside of your dishwasher rusty brown? The cause is a high iron content in your water. Dump a packet of unsweetened lemonade Kool-Aid into the soap drawer and run the washer through a hot-water cycle. When you open the door, the inside will be as white as the day you bought the machine.

Clean rust from concrete
Nasty rust stains on your concrete? Mix unsweetened lemonade Kool-Aid with hot water. Scrub and the rust stain should come right out.