Junk Drawer

I was looking through my junk drawer the other day (don’t pretend you don’t have one, I know you do) looking for I-don’t-know-what because invariably while going through there looking for one thing your attention gets drawn to some other little long-forgotten bauble. As I continued to rediscover my treasures, I realized that it would be interesting to know what normal other people have in their junk drawer. And I knew just how to find out.

I neither wanted to ask people about everything they had stowed away nor thought they’d take the time to tell me, so I emailed a bunch of friends and asked them to tell me about just one item they had and, in 3 sentences or less, tell me why they keep it. I got some pretty interesting answers. Here’s a peek into some well-known bloggers’ drawers (come on, you knew I was gonna go there):

disposable chopsticks

As someone who’s Asian Black who loves to cook take-out all the time occasionally, I always get chopsticks from the local Chinese place and keep them. I also have some quality wooden and plastic chopsticks, yet I can’t seem to toss these plastic ones to the curb!

~April @ 100lb Countdown

 

chap stick

My lips are always chapped 365 days of the year, I have a case of chap stick from Trader Joe’s. I wish it were funny, but it really would be funny if my lips just exploded from dryness!

~Nettie @ Moore or Less Cooking

 

This is a piece of our brick facade backsplash

 

My husband and I recently bought my grandparents’ house and for as long as I can remember they always had pieces of this in their junk drawer. Recently we re-did the kitchen and cleaned out the drawer. The pieces stayed. The pieces will always stay.

~Michelle @ Juicebox Confession

Sterling Silver Bookmarks

   

 

 

The item I keep in my junk drawer is a pair of sterling silver bookmarks that I bought in Mexico fifteen years ago. They rip the pages if I use them in a book, but I just can’t bring myself to toss them. They remind me of that pre-kid vacation with my husband, and they make me smile whenever I find them hiding under my other junk.

~Dana @ Kiss My List

Junk, of course

 

 

 

We have about five junk drawers. From the looks of it, we never throw anything out. I blame the children for hoarding their toys in my otherwise beautifully organized drawers. The end.

~Beth @ Writer B is Me

Super Glue

 

 

 

I  never understood the full benefits of Super Glue till the twins came along. Before we used it for emergency fixes until we could replace the item that was damaged. But with the twins, they re-break things before the glue fully sets. No longer is it a temporary fix, now it’s a ‘till they grow up and move out fix. Super Glue; Mommy’s Little Helper in a Bottle. ;)

~Christine @ Moore Organized Mayhem

Box Tops for Education

 

 

I have volunteered in our children’s schools and have see the critical need for funding. Box Tops for Education is a way that everyone can help donate cash to our schools with a bit of trash off a great product we’re already purchasing. The money brought in makes the difference between a library being closed, technology in the classroom and art programs continued to be offered.

~Meg @ Just A Little Nutty

Orange Blossom Moisturizer

 

 

One of the many things that will forever live in my junk drawer is a bottle of Avon brand orange blossom moisturizer. It was a gift from a friend when we were both doing a manicure course together about six years ago. I haven’t actually used it in years and I lost contact with the gift-giver a long time ago, but it reminds me of such a fun period in my life and I can never bear to toss it.

~Erin @Searching for Sanity

random keys

Who really knows why we keep old keys? Maybe we’ll come across the lock they go to sometime and we wouldn’t want to be without them! Doesn’t everyone keep old keys?

~Alison @ Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

my baby teeth

Whereas I keep many things because I might need them one day, (yeah, right!) I never threw away my baby teeth. They don’t take much space and remind me that my mom cared enough to keep them for me.

~Tamara @ Confessions of a part-time working mom

origami frog

I keep this origami frog close for any fits of creative lapse, boredom or the overwhelming desire to make a paper amphibian jump into, over, or through various things on my desk. My girls and I make origami frogs when we go out to eat to while away the time waiting for our food. We inevitably end up making one to leave for the server before we leave (we also make foxes and peacocks, but they don’t jump).

~Eli @ Coach Daddy

sharpie

There is always a sharpie permanent marker in my junk drawer. You never know when you are going to need to label something or someone! Never be the first to pass out at my house, my specialty is eyebrows and whiskers!!!

~Amy @ Crumbs in my Mustachio

18 cents

Chai means life in Hebrew and the letters in chai add up to 18, so we often give gifts in multiples of 18. Every time I moved to a new home, my grandmother (alava shalom) would give me 18 cents for luck, wishing me a good life in my new home. I’ll always have her 18 cents in a drawer in my home.

~ me

Still curious? I got so many responses to my request for this post that I’ll be writing a second Junk Drawer post, coming soon.

What’s in YOUR junk drawer?

PS: Tomorrow I'll be serving latkes with my special Festive Cranberry Sauce instead of Apple Sauce for a change. Happy Thanksgivukah everyone! 

Festive Cranberry Sauce

 

 

 

 

Festive Cranberry Sauce

                                        ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
3 TBSP orange liqueur
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 (12 oz) package fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained
1 tsp orange zest
6 oz package Pecan halves, toasted
 
Directions:
*Put the dried apricots and the orange liqueur in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and cool.
*Put the sugar, orange juice and orange zest in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. 
*Add the cranberries and continue to cook until they pop open. It'll take about 5 minutes. 
*Remove from heat. Mix in the apricots mixture. Cool completely. Then add the toasted pecans.
*Keep refrigerated.
*This can be made a few days in advance.