Ok be honest. Whether at work or at home, you have that one drawer that various odds and ends get thrown into. Well I'm here to tell you that those odds and ends can end up being your go-to best friends in a pinch!
Now everyone's 'junk' drawer varies. Most of us use the drawer for such things as scissors and maybe a screwdriver or two, but after a while, other things start to find their way in there. And while I'm sure this will end up becoming a series of posts and some of these you may have seen before, sometimes the old stuff just works best! So here's the first 10 Quick Junk-Drawer Tips to help you get through your day: 1. Rubber Bands: There are certainly endless uses for rubber bands but for the purposes of this list, let me add this tip...jar grips. Whether you have trouble with your hands or just have one of those awkward sized jars you can never quite grab right, a rubber band can be your best friend here. I wrap it around the lid edge to give it some grip and it really let's me take hold of it. Need more grip? Wrap a second one around the jar itself! 2. Binder Clips: Either at the office or at home, these things are indispensable and make the perfect chips bag clip! Binder clips are great for earphone clips...they keep the wires at bay and can clip onto a shirt or jacket. They are also good for holding all those loose rubber bands together in the junk-drawer itself. :) 3. Post-It Notes: Anyone who knows me, knows of my serious addiction to Post-Its. Sure I use them as little reminders or food labels, but in a quick pinch, the sticky part makes a great crumb and dust gatherer in tight little spaces! Tear off a sheet and run the sticky side into a tight corner and boom, crumbs gone. Love to do use them on laptop and remote buttons when I can't quite get into those spaces and I know there's stuff in there. 4. Scotch Tape: Running out the door and the dog decided to say goodbye by rubbing up against your legs and now there's hair on your pants. Grab the tape, wrap it around your hand a couple of times (sticky side out) and an instant lint remover is born! 5: Paper Clips: Love these things. They make great makeshift key ring for spare keys and easily clip into a zipper pull in a purse or jacket. Perfect for a quick valet key or for the neighbor who's watering your plants while you're on vacation. 6. Twist Ties: NEVER throw these away when you find them! You will find lots of uses for them that you may not have thought of. I've used them for holding together sets of old measuring spoons, earphone and computer cords and even used them in my bird's cage to hold treats and fix toys. The outer plastic or paper can be taken off to use the wire inside as well for various uses too! (I've even used them as hair ties in a pinch.) 7. Bottle Opener: In our house, we have several of these that have made their way into the drawer. Of course you can use it to open bottles but this will always be my go to for popping open that new jar lid that just won't budge. Put it to the lid like you're going to open a bottle and put enough pressure on it until you hear the pop, but not so much as you break the glass. (Just make sure not to puncture the top of it.) Once it's popped, it can be easily removed. Old school? Maybe. But perfect example of how the old stuff still works! 8. Fast Food Utensils: There's bound to be plastic forks, knives and sporks in that drawer right? I've found that plastic forks are great for cleaning out the little holes in things. Shredder get clogged with cheese? The fork's tines can get in there. Also good for reusable coffee pods. The wire mesh kind that you refill with your own grounds. They are good to gently scrape the stubborn grounds out and won't puncture the mesh. The knives are great as makeshift seedling stakes when starting new plants and can be written on with Sharpies so you can identify what you've planted. 9. Used Ziploc/Plastic Food Bags: If you used a ziploc type of bag and it didn't hold anything too messy, they can easily be hand washed and used again. Obviously you can use your judgement here as far as for what, but if they are in good shape, then you can reuse them for food. Or, keep a few in the junk drawer to organize it a bit better or just to have on hand. Maybe use a few in the car for muddy shoes, wet clothes or maybe an emergency diaper pail for road trips and the unexpected changing. That zipper will really come in handy to keep, those smells at bay. 10. Random Magnet: Our fridge is home to many a magnet as well as those magnetic shopping list pads. We buy those by the packs of 10. But when the lists are all done, the back board of them has a perfectly good magnet that I hate to throw out. So why not reuse it? Take the magnet off of the board or cut the board to fit the magnet. Get some velcro (also a handy item to keep in your drawer btw) and a pen. Stick one side to the magnet the other to a pen and then both on the fridge. Now next time you need to remember to throw something on the shopping list, the pen is right there waiting for you. No more searching through the drawer to find that one pen that works! Now look, I know there are countless posts out there on other blogs on how to actually organize your junk drawer. But I'm a realist. Most of us would get one of those dividers, place each thing into its designated space and for a week, (maybe two) revel in it's all it's organized beauty! And then you're rushing out to your son's baseball game and grab a spork or a plastic bag, come home and dump some stuff in there again and it's all over. I'm here to tell you that there is no shame in that! It's called a 'junk drawer' for a reason! We all have odds and ends in our lives...but USEFUL odds and ends. So rejoice in it's disorganized chaos and hail to it's endless usefulness!! Until next time...
0 Comments
Welcome to the "Don't Call Them Life Hacks" section of Stuff We Find!
Here you'll find tips, tricks and shortcuts using all sorts of stuff. I call the page what I do because I've never been a fan of the term "Life Hacks", so consider this is the anti-life-hack-life-hack page and you never know what kind of MacGuyver-ish tricks you'll find here. Hope you'll come back soon! |