Scrapropos

I resisted this little gadget for a long time. I mean, I don’t use eyelets, and I have numerous hole punches. Why would I need a Crop-A-Dile? Ohhhhhhhh, I was wrong. I’ve been schooled, baby!

The chipboard I used for the Hometown Tourist book was thick and heavy… much more so than the chipboard that comes with packs of page protectors, for instance. As I stood in the scrapbook store waiting to check out, I kept thinking, “I doubt that my little $2.99 hole punch is gonna like this job very much.” In fact, I knew it wouldn’t be able to handle it at all. I’d have about 10 holes to punch in the chipboard, and then all those holes in the page protectors, too. Yuck.

So I left my place in line and wandered over to the tool aisle. I studied the Crop-A-Dile (manufactured by We R Memory Keepers). I still wasn’t willing to part with the scratch it would take to buy it, though.

Then I wandered to the back of the store, found an employee, and asked, “Would you mind demonstrating the Crop-A-Dile for me? I’ve never seen it in action, and I’m not entirely sure I need it.”

She was so excited! She punched through chipboard. Then she punched through metal. And THEN, she punched through a clipboard. You know - an old-school clipboard that the nurse at your doctor’s office carries around. Not wood, maybe not plastic - I don’t know what material it is - but very definitely thick and heavy. Then she said, “Here. You try.”

Even though my eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I watched her punch through the clipboard, I was still skeptical. She’d made it look easy, but she’d had lots of practice. I was sure it would cramp my hand when I tried.

WRONG AGAIN! The Crop-A-Dile punched through the clipboard like a knife through softened butter. Smoooooooth. And SOLD! It was mine.

Aside from being able to punch with ease, and being able to punch all ten page protectors together, the best thing about the Crop-A-Dile is this little feature:

See those little measurement marks? (Click to enlarge.) You can set the punch to one of those marks, and it creates a “stop” for your paper, or metal, or whatever it is you’re punching. You never have to measure and make pencil marks again! The Crop-A-Dile punches in the exact spot every time.

When you’re looking at the Crop-A-Dile head-on, the hole punches are the two claw-looking things on either side. (The top portion of the tool is the eyelet setter, which I haven’t used yet.) It punches two sizes of holes: 3/16″ and 1/8″.

The drill thing is a rather mean-looking drill-looking thing. LOL! When you squeeze the cushioned handle together, this bad boy comes out and bores a perfect hole through the material you’ve given it to eat up. To show how easy this thing punches, I conducted an experiment: In one hand, I held my camera. In the other, I held the Crop-A-Dile with a CD in place. I squeezed the Crop-A-Dile and released the shutter at the same time. VOILA. Punch. Is that easy, or what??

The final test? My Crop-A-Dile is pink, and I like it anyway.

Crop-A-Dile, Crop-A-Dile review, We R Memory Keepers, hole punch, scrapbooking, altered CD

I like to have everything within easy reach. If it’s right there, I’m much more apt to put it away that if it belongs in a box, in a drawer, or on a shelf. I’m on constant look-out for new storage and organizational ideas, and my storage needs change and evolve on a regular basis.

A couple of months ago, I was cleaning the bathroom when a new idea struck me. This “sugar mold” sat on the back of the toilet and functioned as a candle holder. Suddenly, I envisioned it sitting on my desk instead, holding tools. It works beautifully, and besides that, I love the way it looks.

Repurpose something in YOUR house for scrapbook storage. I challenge you!