Quick Crafts #4: Smart Mousepad

Working on a laptop can be a pain if you don't have a separate mouse to work with. But sometimes, you just won't have a table available to put your mouse on. Operating the mouse on your lap won't really work either, you might drop it or it just doesn't respond that well.
So what else can you do? Well, there usually is a bit of space on your laptop right beside the touchpad. You could use that space for your mouse if it's a small one. And as we all don't want to scratch our laptops, why don't you simply make a little mousepad to fit that space? So, here's my newest invention.

You will need:

* Fabric (preferably non-fraying, like fleece or craft foam)
* Hot glue
* Pressing iron
* Baking paper

How it's done:

Cut your fabric to size so it fits into that corner of your laptop. You can use an old mousepad as well or craft foam. If so, you won't have to make it non-slip as it already is. Round off the edges and shake it well so all the leftover fuzz will fall off (and not into your laptop).
To stop it from slipping, there are several methods to do this. You can either fuse your fabric to craft foam or an anti-slip mat and cut it to size, but this might add more height to your mousepad. I didn't want the pad to be thicker because I want to leave it on that edge when storing my laptop away.
The method I used isn't particularly safe for children, but it's quick, easy and most people probably have it handy like I did.
Grab your hot glue gun and make dots of glue on the bottom side of your mousepad. I made lots of little rows of dots all over the pad. Then, take your pressing iron, heat it up and spread baking paper over the glue dots. Press it until you can see the molten dots through the paper. Let everything cool down a bit and take the baking paper off. Let it cool a few more minutes and you're good to go.

Depending on the speed settings of your mouse, that very little space can be more than enough to get your cursor all the way from one side to the other and all across the screen. It's pretty much the best solution if you don't have a table. And that is one reason why laptops were invented, right?

Quick Crafts #3: Lazy Susan

Do you ever have trouble reaching certain spices or dips on the table? Or grabbing the scissors at the far end of your desk? Good news for you: here comes the lazy Susan and you might already have everything at home to make it! 

All you need are two wooden plates with a ridge along the edge and a few marbles. Lay your first plate down with the ridge facing up, place some marbles on the ridge and sandwich them with the second plate with the ridge facing down. And that's it. 

Now you can put a few dips or art supplies on top and rotate the top plate to reach your desired item. Simple, eh?

Quick Crafts #2: Kneadable Soap

Hello everyone!

Today I have another quick craft for you that you can make from materials you probably already have at home. This time, we'll be making soap that you can knead to add a bit of fun to washing your hands (or those of the kids). These can be a fun gift for friends and family as well and they are fairly easy to make!

You will need:

One part shower gel

Two parts starch

Cookie cutters

Optional: glitter, food coloring, a jar with a lid

How it's done:

Put some shower gel into a bowl and add starch. Knead the mixture and add starch or shower gel to get a consistency that is neither sticky (too much shower gel - add starch!) nor crumbly (too much starch). This part is actually harder than it sounds; try pressing the crumbs together to see if they are sticking to each other before adding more shower gel. And yes, as this is starch, it will be a bit messy.
Now, you can add glitter or food coloring as you like, but be aware that some food colors might stain your hands when using the soap. I'd recommend leaving the soap plain and maybe using shower gel in bright colors if you want colorful soap. My pink soap is made from pink shower gel and I didn't want to add any color since I like the pastel colors, they remind me of marshmallows. 

Now, spread some starch on your working surface and roll out the mix as you would with cookie dough (if you're only using up some leftover shower gel like I did, it's easier to press it flat with your palm). I used a piece of baking paper to cover my surface because this stuff does stick quite a bit. You can cut squares out of it or use cookie cutters or a dull knife to make nice shapes. I tried to make two little marshmallow shapes out of two pink and two white strips, sticking them together with a few drops of water. The dough does crack though, but maybe it's just because my mixture contained just a bit too much starch and I had run out of shower gel.
If you want to give them as presents, let your shapes dry over night and put them into an airtight container such as a glass jar afterwards so they won't dry out and become crumbly. You can tie a ribbon around the jar and maybe add a little tag saying that these are kneadable soap bars. If you want to use them yourself and don't really care about the shapes sticking together in your container, you can put them away right after making them. They only stick to surfaces if they were pressed onto them, but you can also put a little but of starch or flour on top and bottom of each soap cookie if you want to make sure they don't stick to each other.
Be aware that the shapes will probably disappear after washing your hands with this soap a few times, because no one can resist this somewhat fluffy kneadable structure of these little soap pieces. It's just too tempting!

Quick Crafts #1: Stickers

In this new series, I want to show you quick crafts with items almost everyone already has at home. This first one is really fun and versatile, so be sure to check it out!

When I was a kid, I loved stickers, but I never seemed to be able to actually use them because I didn't want to waste them. I think this mostly had to do with stickers being "rare" - I couldn't just make them, they had to be bought and they were quite expensive. So what would you say if I told you you can actually make them on your own? 

You will need:

* Clear tape

* Water

* An image

How it's done:

Stick your clear tape over the image you want to turn into a sticker. This can be from old magazines, advertisements, something you printed out (with ink) or even a picture drawn with colored pencils (felt tips won't work and pencil smears a bit; if in doubt test it out!). The magazines may also have glossy paper, it'll work just fine. If you need more width, you can stick a second piece of tape beside the first one, but make sure they overlap at the edge. 

Rub the tape on firmly, you want all of the image to be transferred. 

Now cut the image out in the shape you want your sticker to be and put it into water (I used a plastic cup, but if nothing's available you can also put it in the sink) for at least one minute. I'd suggest longer soaking times for glossy paper.

After soaking, take the pieces out and rub the paper off the back completely. It might stay at some edges, if so hold it under running water and continue rubbing until no paper is left. Shake off the water and hold the stickers for a while to dry before sticking them wherever you want them to be. Mine stick nicely on paper and glass. 

Now, what could you do with those? You could stick them onto paper of course (preferably white or at least light, there's no white color on the stickers), but what else? You can mark jars and plastic containers with them, for example print out words like "Sugar" and "Flour" in a nice font and stick these onto the containers they belong to. You can also put pictures or names onto glasses for a party so they won't be mixed up. The possibilities are endless!

Tips and Tricks:

You can store the stickers more easily if you haven't soaked them already. If you have, you can stick them to thick plastic from packaging, stickers are fairly easy to remove from plastic without damaging them. 

Some kinds of tape tend to turn yellow after a certain period of time; you can avoid this by using self adhesive clear book covering instead of normal tape. It's also possible to do this with a complete sheet of images you want to turn into stickers if you stick it on very carefully.

I hope you have fun trying this out!