The tomato has lost the strawberry

I'm gearing up for my first real sewing project in around 20 years.  I have the basics for tiny projects and mending, but over time the tomato has lost the strawberry.   If this is just an American thing, the most common pin cushion design here is a red tomato with a small strawberry filled with emery for sharpening the pins attached at the top.

I am replacing with a separate, larger emery cushion but in shopping for one I stumbled across a lot of options I had never heard of.  It won't work for storage, but some people use steel wool for sharpening.  I can see possible benefits in the natural oils of the crushed walnut shells, though I would like to know if they are really hard enough for sharpening.   I also have to use some cheap scissors to test if simply cutting a stack of aluminum foil will sharpen scissors.

Anyone have experience with these or other techniques for maintaining these most basic tools?

Casie Becker wrote: I also have to use some cheap scissors to test if simply cutting a stack of aluminum foil will sharpen scissors.

No - please - NO! That will dull them worse!

Can the scissors be taken apart - ie have a screw rather than a rivet? Scissors are different from a knife - one side is flat and acts as a shear against the other side. Only the outside has a beveled angle on it. If you have a sharpening stone, you can sharpen just the beveled side, but I'd look for a video showing the process. There are a number of gizmos you can buy that's for sharpening scissors specifically. For example, a friend has a pair that comes in a plastic case that "sharpens" them every time you slide them back in, that seems to work very well.

I can try and do more research later, but in a rush...

My mother used a glass mason jar to "sharpen" her scissors when I was a child, it worked well.
Did turn the edge or sharpen the blade, I am not sure, but they cut better.

I use one of these for taking off burrs and sharpening my needles & pins: https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Ruby-Stone-Never-Dulls/dp/B003WBJRJY/ref=asc_df_B003WBJRJY

I had it for my nails, and when it broke into a few pieces, almost tossed it, then the idea popped into my head to put the pieces into each of my sewing kits. Works like a charm.

To sharpen my scissors, I either take them apart and sharpen them myself, with fine, good quality stones, or skip it, and take them to the pros, if it's in the budget. It's a skill worth acquiring.

Dullness also doesn't always mean a sharpening is in order. Honing is a much more frequent need, and can be done by swiping the blade on a honing steel or a barber's strop, to smooth the edge, and take off any curls or tiny dings.

I have a very fine pair of eye scissors.  I sharpen them on the unglazed circle on the bottom of a ceramic cup.  I cannot take them apart.  Works well.
When you sharpen your pins, make sure that they are still round because they can potentially become cutting edged rather than splitting edged.  Cutting edges can cut the fibres rather than split the fibres which will close after the pin is removed.
You can see from the needle points below how pins/ needles other than round can cut the fibres so not enabling the threads to close back