Who doesn't have a junk drawer—a catchall for the miscellaneous things that at some point become essential for unexpected fixes and repairs. Until a conversation with Sherri H. yesterday, I gave little thought to its existence.
Between activities at a wedding at which we were both guests, we talked about many things, including housewarming gifts. Days before I had given a Lodge seasoned cast iron skillet and a jar of Tom Douglas's African Peri Peri Rub (fantastic on salmon) as a housewarming gift. No wow factor, but functional, and the young couple were grateful. Then Sherri shared the story of a housewarming gift given to her daughter, Cee, two years earlier. When Cee was about to move into her first apartment, a co-worker and his wife presented her with a cardboard box and proclaimed that it was for her first junk drawer. Inside that box was a roll of black electrical tape, a roll of duct tape, rubber bands, and more. Wow, what a great idea.
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My Junk Drawer
So before giving suggestions about what you could include in the first junk drawer as a housewarming gift, here is a list of the contents of a small but frequently opened drawer in my kitchen.
- Rubber bands
- Push pins
- Small tubes of glue
- Small hammer and screwdriver tool
- Small finishing nails and a few screws
- Pruning snip
- Scissors
- Safety pins
- Used wire ties
- Binder clips (small and large)
- Paper clips
- Batteries, assorted sizes
In a kitchen closet there are six clear containers of varying sizes stacked on a shelf. Each has a designated purpose. The largest is the one I most often climb up on the step stool to reach. It contains the full-size Craftsman hammer, a box of mixed-sized nails, a Makita drill, a multibit screwdriver, a household staple gun, a package of staples, goggles, a Craftsman Laser Trac level, a small adjustable wrench, a clamp, and duct tape.
The First Junk Drawer Housewarming Gift
There are items in my drawer that I definitely would include in a junk drawer housewarming gift box. My starting list:
- Rubber bands
- Push pins
- Safety pins
- Small tubes of glue
- Small hammer and screwdriver tool
- Small finishing nails and a few screws
- Batteries
And there are items I would add:
- Duct tape
- Electrical tape
- Extension cord
- Ball of twine
- Ruler or measuring tape
Be creative.
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More Conventional Gifts
What you give is entirely discretionary. Make a selection based on the personality and predilections of the intended recipient(s). It's likely our list (and mine is fairly gender neutral) is similar.
Pretty & practical
- Tea towel set—matching kitchen theme or recipients special likes
- Hand-crocheted dish cloths and pot holders
- Potted plant—for indoor or outdoor choose animal and kid safe varieties—in a colorful ceramic or terra cotta (my fav) pot
- Woven basket or wooden bowl—food safe if that is the intended use
- Candles—jar, votive, tapers, piller, floating
- Tea kettle (it's not just for tea)
- Mugs with an assortment of teas or coffees
- Coasters
- Trivets or hotpads—plain or ornate, one or more
- Cheese board, spreaders, and a selection of cheeses
- Glasses—water, wine, beer, etc.
- Flower vase—glass or ceramic (I like pitchers)—filled with seasonal fresh flowers and possibly with colorful stones
- Appetizer or dessert plates
- Table-top lamp
- Casserole dish (with the casserole and a recipe card)
Practical & possibly pretty
- Step stool—big or small
- Doormat/welcome mat—plain or decorative
- Flashlights (Maglites)
- Collection of 3M hooks
- Indoor digital timers
- Collection of reusable shopping bags and produce bags with a gift certificate for the local market
Someone questioned the inclusion of indoor digital timers as a practical gift. Digital timers and flashlights relate to safety and I'm all about safety. There are table-top lamps in my house connected to digital timers. One is set to turn on early in the morning, the other to turn on in late afternoon. While the former is set to stay on for just a few hours, the latter remains on for about five hours just in case I arrive home late. Who wants to walk into a dark house? Not me.