Unsung desk hero...

I've occasionally posted about tools that I would rather not live without, and mostly I note, they are the sort of 'fashionable' must haves - my love-hate relationship with the Cropadile for example. I have really overlooked the simplest of them. Norma asked on Wednesday what I used this for.. My genuinely useful, used and loved 'tidy tray'. Many of you know about it and recognise it. It was introduced to me as the 'powder catcher' for heat embossing. Place your pigment ink stamped image on/over/in the tray and pour on the embossing powder. Let the tray catch the excess and then replace the excess powder cleanly and simply in the pot by way of the handy funnel type spouty thing. I know, really, I'm so lyrical.
I love this tray. It's a handy corral for bits and pieces when I'm moving from table to table. A tool caddy of sorts for last minute crop packing. And of course when properly washed in hot soapy water, it isn't static and is a wonderful tool for catching beads or glitter too. Argh, glitter. Almost as difficult to talk about as Christmas!
When I first bought tidy trays (I don't know if this is a TM name or just something that is in my head as the generic name) they were incredibly, stupidly expensive - over £10 if my memory serves me well. They have of course, since become much much cheaper. Thankfully. But do you know, for all that, these are probably the one tool on my desk that I have never, not once had cause to complain about. I use it every time I sit at my desk, and in over ten years, it's fair to say they are really worth the investment. Genuinely, a tool I would have to immediately replace. Now that is, I think, an unsung desk hero!