Last week, we kicked off our MacGyver Challenge series by asking you to create a binder clip hack for your office. We received tons of great entries, but the winning hack belongs to reader Sam Terpstra.


Check out the description of Sam's winning entry below and read about some of our other favorite entries.


Winner: Use Two Binder Clips to Hang Almost Anything

Sam Terpstra shows us a simple method (lead image) for using two binder clips—one large and one medium—to create a versatile clipping solution. You can put it together and take it apart in seconds it requires no alterations to the clips. Here are Sam's instructions:

Take your two binder clips (medium and large) and remove one of the metal handles (it makes no difference which one). Hold the two so the "biting end" is pointing away from each other and slip a smaller clip arm around the larger one (you'll probably have to twist it). Now, take the other side (with the missing handle) and slide the removed handle into the same configuration and reconnect it to the clip. Voila, you're done.

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When you're finished, you have a versatile clipping solution. Too see what Sam has done with this setup, check out the expanded instructions. Congratulations, Sam! And congratulation to Sam's mom, as well, who introduced him to Lifehacker.


Honorable Mentions

We got a lot of great entries and we'd be remiss if we didn't share some of our favorites. Here are some of the entries that really impressed us.


Use Binder Clips to Keep Your Pens Close at Hand

Andres Maldonado uses the binder clips on the sides of his desk to hold his ink pen, wacom pen, and pair of chopsticks on the side. For holding the wacom pen, he increased the "hole size" of the binder clip using pliers. He did the same thing to reduce the hole so it would support the pen at the bottom.



Hang Your Smartphone on a Vertical Post

We liked Jonathan Concepcion's simple smartphone dock because it clips to a vertical surface and uses both metal clips to hold the phone in place. It's very handy for clipping to the side of a bookshelf or cabinet.



Never Forget to Take Your Papers Along Again

Reader RCamyre sent us this very simple, but very effective, way of remembering to bring important papers along with you. A binder clip attached to your key ring means you won't forget to mail that check unless you also forget your keys.



Cable Organizers, Phone Hangers, and More!

We had so many great entries this time around that we wanted to share as many of them with you as we could. Check out all the other great binder clip hackery from our readers.


MacGyver Challenge Entry Gallery This week's MacGyver Challenge brought us a lot of great entries that we wanted to share with you.… Read more

A big thanks to everyone who took the time to send us entries! Be sure to check back every week for a new challenge.