8.20.2012

Long-Lost Scissor Reunions (and a Quick Fix for Over-Eating Desk Drawers)

This isn’t one of those cute fixes that is featured in Real Simple or Martha Stewart’s Living. This is one of those ugly but totally useful fixes that will be featured nowhere except this blog and the annals of Function Over Form.*

*No such publication exists.

The problem: a crazed desk drawer that has existed since, well, the beginning of time. You all know the kind. The kind that devours pens and paper clips and reeks of belched rubber bands. The kind that greedily slurps up your scissors, forcing you to cut out coupons with fingernail clippers. The kind that you open and then hastily close because you can’t find anything in there anyway so what’s the point, and besides, it may spontaneously combust at any moment and you aren’t wearing sunscreen.

DSC_0997

But since I’ve had the summer off and have mainly just made movie posters of my cats, I decided that it was time to stop avoiding the binging junk drawer and tackle it head on, Jillian Michaels style. So I flexed my muscles and glared it at and told it it was a loser, and then got down to business. And as I was getting down to business, I found a pair of scissors.

DSC_0998

Rejoice! I embraced it tearfully.

And then I wiped my eyes and continued digging, and found Scissor’s brother.

DSC_0999

And then Scissor’s entire extended family including Great-Uncle Hector who suffers from scoliosis.

DSC_1000

And it turns out that either scissors are capable of reproduction or I have unwittingly been banishing the Scissor Family to this sad excuse of a drawer and it is my own fault that they can never be found.

So I did what any responsible scissor owner would do: I showed them Intimacy: The Movie I got a cereal box and fruit snacks box out of the recycling bin, cut off the fronts, taped up the sides, and made perfectly sized, drawer-friendly homes for the Scissors and their delinquent friends Tape and Pens and Pencils.

DSC_1010

DSC_1016

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

See, I told you Real Simple wouldn’t go for it. Even though this fix was real simple.

Bahaha. Ha. Ha.

Does your house eat scissors? Have you found any uses for cereal boxes?

***Linking this up to Honey We’re Home!***

22 comments :

  1. You are killing this repurposing thing. Next challenge item...cereal boxes. :P

    I wish my scissors would reproduce. I need at least 2 more pairs...

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I saw the first picture I was wondering how you got into my house & snapped a shot of my desk drawer... and my kitchen junqué drawer... and my sewing cabinet drawer...

    Since we buy cereal by the refrigerator-box-Costco-size, I don't have any cutesy little upcycled dividers to use. Guess I'll have to start feeding my guyz fruit snacks, huh?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really any small cardboard box from the grocery store would work! But I'll be sure to drop some non-gargantuan cereal boxes off next time I sneak into your house and photograph your desk drawers.

      Delete
  3. Love the quick fix! We have a few pairs of scissors that are strategically hidden (okay, just my sewing scissors are strategically hidden, the rest are MIA)... oops.

    I used to turn cereal nutty bar boxes into houses for my polly pockets when I was younger. That was always fun :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lol -- you are so funny. This is a great fix -- way to go! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great quick fix! My house eats pens like no tomorrow. The other day I was sitting at my computer desk writing something, got up to grab something else from the other room and when I came back I could not find my pen anywhere. I do have a feeling that two certain kitties had something to do with it, though.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hahaha Great Uncle Hector...you're hilarious! Great way to 'recycle' the recyclables!

    ReplyDelete
  7. My dog eats both. Scissors and cereal boxes. Or is it my kids?

    Great-Uncle Hector would make a great spokesperson. ;)

    Seriously, where do you come up with this stuff? (Are you this crazy with your students or is this a secret talent?)

    I love you, Erin. I had to "cut" to the chase. Get it? Scissors? Cut? (This is where I straighten my glasses, snort and adjust my suspenders.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bahaha!! I cannot believe how many pairs of scissors you found!! Great job tackling the job that none of us wants to take on! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow- your drawer really does hoard scissors!! You have a rather large collection of pens and pencils too. Our junk drawer is to the point where it doesn't even really open anymore- there's too much junk in the way. It's a problem... but one I don't feel like addressing any time soon! lol. Great simple update though!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I actually have a solution just like this pinned in my pinterest! The only difference is she covered the boxes with cute wrapping paper. I guess it all depends on how OCD you are about your junk drawer...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I am not nearly that stylish with my junk drawer. I thought about covering them for maybe half a second but then decided everything I had to put in there was ugly and soooo what's the point? :)

      Delete
  11. You are awesome at this whole repurposing thing! And thank you for showing off your junk drawer! It's 20x worse than mine, which in a really selfish and vain way, makes me feel better ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I wish the next challenge item was cereal boxes! Because I've been saving some and I have a little organizing project in mind for them too! We just cleaned up our junk drawer too, and it looks a LOT like yours, which makes me wonder... why do we need so much scotch tape??

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh my goodness, that is hilarious. Teachers always seem to amass a large number of pairs of scissors. I loved meeting your scissor family, glad they are reunited and that your drawer is organized. But, what I really want to see, those movie posters :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Obviously your repurposing of cereal boxes stems from your childhood forays into making cereal boxes into the highly renowned CEREAL FORT, which has rightfully taken its place in "The Great Annals & History of Cereal Box Repurposing".

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh man, I would love to read a mag called "Function Over Form". I'm so glad you posted this since I just cleaned out my junk drawer (after many years) and was embarrassed to show it on my blog since the containers aren't all color coordinated and purty. But, just like your drawer, it is now organized. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  16. REAL SIMPLE would be fools to overlook this kind of genius. FOOLS!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lol. It really is that simple! Maybe I need to try this. My bigger problem is pens and pencils. I can never find them when I need them...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ha! I havne't been in my house long enough to really have a true junk drawer. There is one that's well on it's way, but I think I should really let it get junky before organizing it because it makes for a better blog post :-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. So funny! Thanks for linking up and putting a smile on my face! :)

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from my readers, so don't be shy. :) Thanks for being here!

Want to read more?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...