Kitchen hack. In-sink sponge/ scrubber/ scraper holder

Because I have a fairly compact kitchen, with just 6 feet of counter space, I like to keep my counter uncluttered. Many years ago I bought a magnetic pencil holder like this one



and stuck it in my sink to hold my scrubbers and scrapers. It did a good job of keeping them off the counter top but it was very hard to clean and over time it began to rust.

I've been in the market for something similar and I really like the metal ones like this one,



but I couldn't find one locally and the online shops wanted an arm and a leg for shipping.

I had one like this



in my shopping cart 2 weeks ago but I knew that it was much bigger than I needed so I put it back on the rack.

This week I saw one like this in my supermarket. After I got home I reflected that I could cut it to shape and stick it on with some magnets.



I planned to go back for it but yesterday as I was explaining my plans to my husband I had an idea. I found an empty dish washing detergent bottle and cut it down to fit my scrubber. (I know that the dishtowel makes these photo very busy but I found I couldn't effectively photograph a transparent bottle on a white counter top.)



I heated a nail on my stove element and carefully made some drainage holes on the bottom.



I found two magnets who found each other mutually attractive. (After all it was Valentine's Day!)



I placed one on the outside wall of my sink,



the other inside my cut down bottle and reunited them.





Then I had a new in-sink scrubber and scraper holder that is so inconspicuous that I think even my eye rolling sons will give it a passing grade. (They aren't big fans of some of my more eccentric hacks. They tolerate that I like to use a depleted gift card to scrape my pots.)



I'll buy one of the metal ones if I ever see one but this will do until then.

It is a bit roomy though so I have my eye on an slimmer, and almost empty, baby oil bottle.





And if there is a next time...

I'll sketch the cutting line on the bottle first. My freehand cut was pretty symmetrical but a bit wonky. And I'll see if I can use a tiny drill bit to make the drainage holes. The nail scorched the hole edges a little and so they look a bit grimy.

P.S.  Eventually I did buy a silicone one but I didn't use it for long because it developed a mold that I couldn't even remove with bleach.