Forget the expensive china, the Egyptian cotton sheets, or the state of the art cookware. The following gift idea is actually a gift that was given to us at our wedding and it is by far the one we've used the most. It isn't pretty, or fancy, or something to show off to guests. You probably won't find it on any gift registry or wish list. And yet after five and a half years of being married, we still use it on an almost daily basis. What is it you ask?
A ready-made junk drawer.
Yup. I'm sure many of you have a drawer somewhere in your house affectionately known as the junk drawer. A collection of many months or years of useful odds and ends. Well how about helping out the newlyweds with a complete collection right from the start? (Keep this gift in mind for new college students, first time home owners, or neighbors just moving in too!)
We still call ours the junk drawer even though it is technically a junk plastic bin. But it sits on the bottom shelf in our pantry and while we've restocked some items, there are still some original items in there that we haven't quite used up yet. I can't even stress how handy this gift was during our first few months of marriage and how many trips to the store it saved us to buy something small like a glue stick. And it keeps us from wasting an actual drawer in our kitchen or office. Are you seeing the beauty of this gift yet? This was honestly a better gift than one of the six waffle irons we received. Not that I have anything against waffles. If you want to make me some, please feel free.
Here are some items to consider putting in the junk drawer. I would recommend hitting up the dollar store, the dollar spot at Target, or even Wal-Mart to find these items super cheap. You don't have to put all of them, nor is this a complete list. Whatever you think might be helpful.
- rubber bands
- Post it notes
- envelopes
- safety pins
- push pins
- pencils
- pens
- staples
- index cards
- paper clips
- batteries
- scissors
- nails
- string
- flash light
- band aids
- glue/glue stick
- super glue
- gum
- screw driver
- screws
- clothes pins
- tape
- duct tape
- matches
- twist ties
- lighter
- Sharpies
- Command hooks
- picture hangers
- screw driver
- small hammer
- stamps
- deck of cards
- small first aid kit
- nail file
- Lastly a label for the bin and a matching tag to tie onto the gift bag or box.
So who is coming over to my house to make me waffles? Anyone?
Oh, we had waffles this weekend. I have and love my junk drawer. I pull it open once a day at least. I never thought about it for a gift but I love it!
ReplyDeleteI was doing something for my daughter this morning and used my junk drawer. I like unique gift ideas and this is a good one.
ReplyDeleteI love your humor Brie! You are great! And your blog is awesome.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome gift idea! You're right that it's not something someone would ASK for, but it's definitely something they would use!
ReplyDeleteI love it! This would also be a great gift for someone going off to college. I guess the possibilities are endless really. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great newlywed gift! I would never have thought of this. Thanks for sharing! Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog too.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I have a wedding to go to this weekend and I have been wondering what to get as a gift!
ReplyDeleteYes! Some 30 years ago my sil gave us shower present filled with all those kinds of miscellaneous but useful household things...stapler, rubber bands, clips, scissors, tape, etc. and it all went into a drawer which we fondly dubbed "Barbara's drawer"!
ReplyDeleteSuch a neat idea. I have a wedding to go to and this is perfect. By the way, I'm jealous you have a charming Charlie bag. That is my favorite store and they don't have one where I live.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved a junk box as a gift! What a wonderful idea!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was first married I had a party to go to and I realized that I didn't have any wrapping paper (or gift tags, or ribbon). So for future wedding presents I give a few rolls of wrapping paper (I get a bunch on clearance after Christmas- looking for fancy papers that aren't seasonal and I include one roll of brown craft paper) gift tags, tape, scissors, and ribbon in a under-the-bed storage box.
This is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteSherron: I love your idea too. I never had any wrapping paper, I always ended up buying a bag on the way to a party.
I used this basic idea for stuff to fill my son in law's stocking the first Christmas after they married to fill the container I provided; and ever since it's also a great way for him to re-stock his junk drawer. Guys can be so hard to buy stocking filler stuff for. I always include little fun, silly stuff too.
ReplyDeleteA simple sewing kit is a great wedding gift; and can also be used to help fill a girls stocking at the holidays. I even included a simple sewing kit from the dollar store in my son in law's stocking. He keeps in his desk at work for those days a button pops off at work.
ReplyDeleteI gave a gift like this once. I called it "The Junk Drawer Salad". I bought a nice large wooden serving bowl and salad utensils. The couple had green dish towels on their registry, so those went in the bottom, as "lettuce". Then, I filled it with junk drawer items. I arranged the top to look like a tossed salad (little corn shaped corn in the cob holders looked like corn, large white paper clip thingys looked like mushrooms, rubberbands incircles looked like onions, etc). Then, I put the utensils over the top and covered it with plastic wrap. It looked really cute!
ReplyDeleteLove this idea... but just an FYI you should NEVER store batteries like that!
ReplyDeleteIf they are not in thier original container, or another that prevents the ends from touching then all ends should be covered with electrical tape.
I had no idea until I had one (in my battery baggie) explode after making contact with another! There were flames in SECONDS... and it was in a junk drawer full of flamables! Luckily I was right there when it happened and put it out quickly.
That baggie had been in a couple of different junk drawers, it had survived moves and we had never had an issue. I had no idea til it happened and some firefighter friends assured me there are many home fires started this way!
Wow, I had no idea! Thanks for the info, I'll definitely be changing how we store our batteries!
DeleteYou could also throw in some loose change. Everyone's got loose change in their junk drawers!
ReplyDelete