The Flat Surface Cycle

We have a problem in our house. It involves flat surfaces. I've been studying craft rooms for quite some time now, and this problem with flat surfaces keeps coming up. It comes up often enough that I now know its not unique to our craft room. In fact, its a trait of most, if not all craft rooms.

This problem stems from a strange power inherent in most flat surfaces; the power to attract craft supplies and materials. This power is similar to that of a magnet in attracting metal, except that the flat surface attracts items much more slowly, so slowly that it is not perceivable by the human eye. The flat surface accumulates items over time, eventually disappearing beneath the items. (Note: some researchers have speculated that the problem may lie with the crafty persons, and not the flat surfaces, but it is mere speculation at this point.)

When the problem is brought to the attention of the crafty person, the area may be cleaned to some degree or another, but rest assured that items will again accumulate on the flat surface eventually. This cycle of accumulation, reclamation, and reaccumulation is know as the flat surface cycle. It's kind of like the water cycle, only it involves junk craft supplies and materials.

I did a quick Google Image Search of the phrase "craft room mess" (you might want to do the same, just to validate your statement to your husband that "my craftroom isn't as bad as it could be"). The results illustrate the fact that any flat surface has this power. The various flat surfaces have attracted all sorts of items, though fabric, patterns, paint bottles, and scissors seem to be more susceptible to the flat surface's power than things like, say, cleaning supplies.

To further illustrate this cycle, I'll use an example from our home. Recall the air hockey table that I purchased last year at a garage sale. I mentioned last month that it had been annexed by the craft room. This annexation was a result of the flat surface cycle. Typical of the flat surface cycle, the surface (air hockey table) was cleaned off today. The question is, how long will it remain clean before the cycle continues?

I'm putting the over/under at 4 days.