Collecting a great gift bag for new homeowners

I have no idea why my brain decided to think about this today, but for some reason I was remembering when we first moved into this house in 1993, and how more than once as we were settling in, I found myself having to make unexpected store trips to get items that seemed SO OBVIOUS NOW but which we'd completely overlooked when planning for our move. So without further ado, here's my list. You may notice it's not full of things like $300 monogrammed bath towels, or solid gold lamp finials. This is down and dirty stuff you find really handy when you're getting settled in your new home.

Oh wait, there is one ado I want to further: My one big hint for making Moving Day less hellish:

When you're packing your furniture, put the beds in LAST, so they're the first things placed in your home. (Know where you want to put them before moving day, too). And take all the clean bedding you'll need in the car with you - don't for God's sake bury it in the middle of the moving van! Then, when the beds have been brought into the house, put them together FIRST THING, and make them up with the fresh bedding. Then proceed to move your stuff. At the end of that exceedingly long day, you will SO thank yourself for fixing up the beds first - they're ready to fall into when you most need them!

OK, stuff for a goody bag for new homeowners:

Masking tape, one or more widths

a box of adhesive bandages, various

microfiber cleaning cloths

a small calculator

rubber bands, various sizes and widths

tape measure and / or yardstick

pad(s) & pencil(s)

clothespins (honestly, these are CRAZY useful in all rooms of the house!)

two or three spray bottles (you can give them baking soda and vinegar, great less-polluting cleaning compounds, too)

used toothbrushes for cleaning grout and crevices

A box of sandwich-size sealable plastic bags, and / or one of big garbage bags,  will always be useful, too.  A few folds of clean newspaper, clean cotton rags, plastic cleaning bucket...use your imagination! You could also get gift cards at the closest pizza parlor for your exhausted and starving new homeowners. 

Now I have to go scrub off all the Martha cooties I feel like I've attracted...