Sunday, April 10, 2011

Student Base Camp

In times of chaos, I need order. And there is no time more chaotic (in my experience) than final exams. This are the two weeks where I shut my social life right down, arm myself with provisions of snacks and tea and camp out in front of my laptop, a veritable base fortified with textbooks, writing utensils and mountains of paper.

In the foray, you can imagine that important documents get shuffled around, highlighters suffer mass casualties and the only sounds that can be heard are the rapid firing of keys.

Not this year. This year I decided to take the bull by the horns and go down in style. Though these crafts aren’t super fancy, they are also not very labor-intensive and more practical. So I present 2 crafts I  did that help to lessen the mental meltdown that invariably occurs with the approach of each exam.

With laptops, I find it increasingly necessary to bring mine to my bed just so that I can do that last bit of work before I fall asleep. I was also finding that it wasn’t just me on the edge of a meltdown—my laptop was overheating due to resting on my blankets and pillows. To remedy this, I decided to make a simple laptop tray. Nothing fancy, but so functional that it’s almost become a part of my laptop.



To make this, I bought a tray from the dollar store. I also picked up dinner placemats at the dollar store—the kind that is a bit grippy to prevent dishes from sliding. I cut out a size appropriate for the bottom and used regular glue to stick it. After letting it dry fully, I tested it out. Let me tell you, marvelous. My laptop fans never go off anymore. Just having that little sheet of plastic underneath helps immensely and the placemat is good for grip as well as preventing scratches to any surface.


Simple, I know. Come on, it’s finals week.

The second craft was just for fun. I bought some cute bulldog clips to keep all of my papers and handouts together but because they are so small, it is inevitable that some will go missing. So I made a small little container for them out of a teabag container, sheet music and Mod Podge. Decoupage anyone?






                                    And now it’s time to hit the books again.


1 comment:

  1. My laptop would probably really appreciate a laptop tray like yours. love that they were from the dollar store. Maybe we need another dollar store challenge!! and the clip container is great. love the sheet music.

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