DIY Desk Spruce-Up

Despite the fact that I have been at my job more than 3 months, my desk basically looked the same as it did on my first day.  Aside from some documents on my bulletin board and a box of tissues on my shelf, I had no personal touches on my desk.  And without any natural light, I spent my days looking at gray walls under florescent lights.  Not exactly the most inviting or comfortable setup.  So when I met up with some friends for craft club last weekend (yes, I am in a craft club, and yes, it is awesome), I decided it was high time that I made a few things to spruce up my desk!  A short time later, I had a new mousepad, pencil cup, and some flowers that won’t die in my windowless space.

I made the mousepad by tracing a salad plate onto a piece of cork board, then cutting it out with sharp scissors.  I gave it a coat of coral paint, and painted the edge gold.  It was looking a little boring, so I used painters tape to create irregular lines and painted them gold.  And ta-da, a new mousepad!

The pencil cup was even easier- I just wrapped painters tape around a glass cup (got it in the candle aisle at Michael’s) and painted the space below it in the same coral color as the mousepad.  Then I painted the top edge gold.

Finally, I made some paper flowers to put in a little vase I picked up at Michael’s (60% off, thank you very much).  They are made with tissue paper, and seriously easy to make.  Here is a tutorial.

 

Paired with the tea tin and desk calendar I got as Christmas gifts, my office space is finally starting to look like a human actually works there.  I’d still like to add a few things, like a pretty bowl for fruit and snacks, some art, and maybe some pictures, but this is definitely a huge improvement.  Plus, it was cheap!  I only needed paint, cork, and tissue paper.  I just wonder why it took me so long (story of my crafting life)!

• flowers
• mousepad
• pencil cup