DIY Office Accessories

I only had to go to work once this week, and I only have to go to work once next week - which means I have a lot of time on my hands, and I tend to fall into the "lazy" trap.  Aside from getting in my workout yesterday morning, I pretty much lazied around my house all day.  And today was starting to look the same.  I am actually so so sore from yesterday's workout, that I have relegated today a rest and stretching day...

I had been planning on giving my mom a homemade Christmas present, but I hadn't really gotten around to actually making it.  However, since I am leaving on Thursday to visit my family, I figured today would be a good day to finally get it done!  And that at least breaks the "lazy" trap for a while.

So today's project: DIY Office Accessories.

A wrist rest for the keyboard and the mouse, along with a matching mouse pad.

(don't mind that they are just sitting on my carpeted floor)

This was a totally easy project - it took less than 2 hours total.  Although, I have recently begun sewing things more often, I am in no way excellent at sewing - luckily, this is going to my mom, and she has to like it whether its perfect or not!

What you need for the wrist rests:

* your choice of fabric - I started with 1 yard and cut from there; I had more than 1/2 yard left over.

* sewing machine and thread

* straight pins

* rice - I used Thai jasmine rice because the grocery store had a large bag of it on sale

The fabric I chose is a calming shade of blue, and has dogs on it with sayings like "bark" and arf."  I picked this fabric because my mom really loves dogs, and I know she has pictures of both mine and her dog in her office.  She will definitely appreciate my choice.

For the keyboard wrist rest I went with 18"x8".  And for the mouse pad wrist rest I went with 8"x6.5".  (At this point I also cut out the fabric for the mouse pad, and I went with 10"x10" because a square seemed like a good idea.)

I started with the wrist rest because it was the smallest one.  Once I had the 8"x6.5" fabric cut out, I ironed it, then folded it in half (right side together), and pinned around the edges.

I then sewed around one short side and the long side that was pinned - there was no need to sew the folded side.  On the long pinned edge, I did leave just under one inch open so that i could fold it down when finishing it up.  Once I finished sewing it up, I then turned it right side out, just like you would when making a pillow.

I then sewed a top stitch along the three closed sides, just to make it a bit more interesting.  I am terrible at sewing top stitches in a straight line, but no big deal.  Then it was time to fill it up with the rice.  I first attempted to do this by just picking up the rice with my bare hand - this meant rice went EVERYWHERE.  So I got a ladle from my kitchen, and that seemed to help minimize the mess.

The next step was definitely the hardest - closing that thing up.  It took a few tries - yes, I had to un-stitch it completely and try again.  I could not sew it up using the sewing machine, so I resorted to hand stitching.  I didn't do the best job, but it stays shut and the rice doesn't spill everywhere, so it works for me.  The finished product:

I went through the exact same process with the keyboard wrist rest:

All that was left to do was create the mouse pad.  Again, I started with a 10"x10" piece of fabric, and after ironing it, I laid it on top of shelf paper.  I used the peel and stick kind, so I just peeled the backing off, and laid the fabric on top of it.  The shelf paper was a little bit bigger so that the fabric would fit on it and I would be able to smooth it out.

I then sewed a seam all the way around it.  I tried as hard as I could to make the stitch a straight line, but that didn't happen.  Hey I did my best.  Once I completed the simple sewing project, I coated the entire thing with 2 layers of modge podge.  I used the matte kind - probably not the best for coating fabric, but it works.  Once it was dry, I trimmed all the way around it, and I was finished!

All in all, it was a really simple project that can be completed in just 2 hours or less, and it can really make your office feel a bit more personalized.  I know my mom will love it, and I am glad I could give her a homemade gift this year.  :)

Now, I need to jump in the shower and get ready for a date night!  Jasin and I are going out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary.  We actually don't really have any specific plans, so who knows where we'll end up!  Have a great night!