Dr. Bunsen Honeydew here at Muppet Labs where the future is being made today!
Well, well, the holiday season always seems to ambush a person when least expected, doesn’t it?
Your normal schedule is suddenly overrun with invitations, decorations, and worst of all, leftovers. Has your obsessive over-planning now come back to haunt you? Is the drudgery of eating reheated holiday favorites for days on end too much to handle? Does your sanity waver when you consider what to do with that fifth package of plastic spoons you bought “just in case” and then never opened?
Well, you are in luck because today I will be bringing you up-to-date on some new and innovative uses for the worst kind of leftovers: inedible plastic tableware.
Oh, there you are, Beaker. Would you bring me that large bowl of spoons we were discussing the other day? Yes, the glue gun too.
After extensive research conducted right here at Muppet Labs, we have confirmed that the most troublesome disposable utensil of all (yes, Beaker, you can place it right here on the table) is the plastic spoon. Knives and forks can be easily repurposed in multiple ways with their ability to pierce and slice—thank you for demonstrating that, Beaker—but spoons are commonly deemed useless for anything but their intended purpose…which is boring. However, our research has afforded a brilliant solution to this conundrum: the Glue Gun Spatula!
Doubtless, when sticking objects together with hot glue, you have noticed how the sticky substance will all-too-often clump itself into unsightly globs at the slightest over-squeezing of the trigger. Consequently, you will instantly see the benefits of a device that spreads the glue across an object, and the plastic spoon conveniently has the exact shape and flexibility for doing just that.
In fact, to make a hot glue gun spatula at home, you only need three things:
- Plastic spoons (before you go shopping for these, check your pantry. You probably have a few remaining from a previous holiday season…or several).
- Hot glue gun
- Glue sticks for the gun
They’re all set, Beaker; shall we begin? No, I’m sure it’s perfectly safe, you’ve got this.
First off, my assistant Beaker is using a razor blade to cut the sides off of this plastic spoon. This will help spread the glue at a convenient width.
Careful, now, Beaker, remember that the blade is sharp and you wouldn’t want to lose a finger, would you?
He will now slice off the top half of the spoon to make a nice, flat edge, which will aid in the even application of glue across any surface.
Next comes my favorite step in the process. Switch on that hot glue gun, will you, Beaker? We will now attach the modified plastic spoon to the glue gun—using hot glue! Oh, the irony of it always strikes me funny!
Don’t worry, Beaker, it’s only boiling hot adhesive. You’ll be just fine.
Ah yes. I might add at this point that the glue is very hot when it emerges from the glue gun, and I wouldn’t suggest getting it on your hand.
O, how clever! You see? Here, my assistant is thoughtfully demonstrating the downsides of a spatula-less glue gun. Observe how it congeals and stretches into so many little strings when improperly extruded from the nozzle and sticks to the fingers no matter how desperately you try to peel it off. It can burn you severely.
Beaker?
Really, Beaker, I appreciate the gesture, but there’s no need to demonstrate to them how painful the scalding glue can be; description alone would have sufficed. And the screaming is maybe a bit much.
Oh well, my assistant has at least managed to stick the spoon on properly.
Yes, Beaker, you may be excused, and please take care of those burns right away; they look severe.
Well, I am just pleased as punch with how this turned out! I will now demonstrate how the spatula attachment works by seamlessly gluing together two sheets of paper:
Ah, beautiful. What fun!
This invaluable lifehack should give you an idea of just how useful leftovers are. It also goes to show that not only can the leftovers themselves be fashioned into something new, but they can also improve other devices such as the hot glue gun! Incredible, isn’t it?
As this exercise in holiday thriftiness comes to a close, I would like to thank the journalist who randomly contacted me last week for tastefully commissioning this article from Muppet Labs. No reward for our pioneering research means more to me than being featured in such a prestigious scientific journal as clay.
I will now go and investigate the screams issuing from the washing station. I do hope Beaker found the right sink, the one with regular water. The other contained hydrochloric acid.
Bye!
Photo Credits (cover image): https://muppetmindset.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/f782e-bbtmm.jpg
Photo Credits (glue gun and photoshop): Timothy Baker