Sunday, June 7, 2009

OK, so here is my first post: a DIY book clip

I guess I'll start off this blog with something helpful for anyone who reads...which I suppose would by definition be anyone reading this post. I'm currently writing a long research paper, and I've got about nine books open in front of me piled everywhere I can fit them on my desk. While reading, I need to copy down important quotations and the relevant citation info from whatever book I'm using, but typing that out while trying to read out the quote is pretty time consuming if I have to struggle to keep the books from flopping closed. I remembered seeing an infomercial about a "book-clip" that keeps the book open while you read, have a drink, or do whatever else you'd like to be doing while you read with either of your hands. This gave me the idea (since I didn't have said Book-clip handy) to try and make my own DIY book-clip. So, here's a tip for anyone who likes to read without their hands holding the book open at all times: get a fairly stiff strip of metal (i.e. about as thick as a school cafeteria spoon handle) and a ruler (or something similar in shape/stiffness). The next step involves bending the strip of metal back over itself. Make sure not to make it so bent that it either breaks or is essentially a paperclip - you should be able to fit your finger in between without cutting off your circulation. That's pretty much all the manual labor involved in this little project. The last part is just using the bent metal as a clip to secure the ruler at the top of the book page, keeping its pages open without the need for your hands at all. Enjoy - read and do whatever else you want!

(I finally got around to uploading the photos - take a look right here...)


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