Have you ever just done things automatically and then realized that other people never heard of your methods? I thought about it the other day when I decided to fill a small glue bottle with some tacky glue. With the big hole of the Tacky glue and the tiny hole of the mini glue bottle you are always bound to get glue all over the place. Well 💡 idea. I dispose of alot of syringes from saline flushs I have to do for my son. These cannot be recycled and there are no places that take them. Once in awhile I have found an animal rescue that will take them after I clean and sterilize them to use for feedings. But what if I took one of those and filled it with glue to fill my mini glue bottle? Well by golly it worked like a dream! I can either re-clean them or just toss them. I choose to re-clean. Plus I donated to a few card making friends to use too.
Another great light bulb idea is think foam insulation from your local Home Improvement Store. My Daughter-in-law bought 1/4 of a sheet for a project and had my husband cut some shapes for her. Out of the scraps I had him cut me a few 3" x 3" squares. Not very pretty (I'll work on that another time) but I am always losing my pin from my glue bottle on my table. Now when I pull it out I just stick it in the foam. TaDa no more lost pin.
Speaking of pins. I really love using those small bottles that have the tiny metal tips. I tend to buy the Crafters Companion brand on Amazon . They are easier for my hands to squeeze. But I am not a fan of losing that pin. Alot of people have made those long beaded thingies for their pins which are cute but in my opinion just get in the way of my travel bag when I'm traveling and since I use those mini bottles they make the bottles topple over. So I found that knitting needle point protectors work perfectly! With the pin already in the metal tip...firmly force the point protector over the head of the ball of the needle. It takes some effort because the hole of the protector (depending on which ones you buy) are smaller than the ball but it will go on. Then you have this cute little doodad on top of your needle that is alot easier to locate on the table. I got a bit carried away with mine and bought a bunch. I'll link my 2 purchases but what I did was use a different top for different glues. Example the purple bear is for my Bearly Art Glue, the blue hedgehog is for tacky glue, The lamb is my granddaughters school glue, and the frog is my dollar tree glue.
Another bit of info for all you glue people. We all have our favorite. To be honest mine is actually one that is only called "Liquid Adhesive" and I get it at the Dollar Tree. They changed the recipe a bit and it is runnier but I just leave the cap off for a day or two and it thickens up to where I like it and then I transfer it to my little glue bottles. Anyway that is not what I was going to say...........I was going to say that if you intend on using Aleen's Tacky Glue in one of these fine tip glue bottles the fine tip will get well kind of stuck. Not really clogged because the pin is there but because the glue is so thick it doesn't go down into the bottle all the way and sticks to the sides. The pin goes in but after a few uses it builds up and then the pin doesn't want to come out and you have to work at it. I still like using it in these little bottles but I now take the extra time after each day of use to remove cap, run hot water through it, wipe it off and then return the pin. I know..extra work but the smaller bottle is easier to work with so I don't mind the extra work.
I re-use old Cricut mats for gluing projects too instead of tossing them out. They may not look great but they keep the table un sticky lol.
Well those are my tips for now.
Happy Crafting!!
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