You may never know when inspiration will strike, but you can be ready for it with this laptop art center complete with a sturdy work surface, storage space for supplies, and a ruler edge to help your artist tear off each completed masterpiece.

Materials

• Craft knife
• Sturdy 7-1/2- by 11-inch photo box (with removable top)
• Glue
• 6-inch metal ruler
• Ribbon

• Wood glue
• Wooden bead with 3/8-inch inner diameter
• 10-inch (3/8-inch diameter) wooden dowel
• Roll of paper
• Rubber band

Instructions

1. Prepare the Box: Use a craft knife (parents only) to cut two 3/8-inch round holes in the sides of the bottom section of a sturdy 7-1/2 - by 11-inch photo box (with a removable top). The holes should be directly across from each other, about 2 inches up from the bottom of the box and 2 inches in from the sides. Use the craft knife to make a narrow slit along one short side of the box top, about 1/2 inch in from the end.

2. Create a Paper Cutter: Glue a 6-inch metal ruler to the underside of a 14-inch length of ribbon, centering it. Wrap the ribbon (with the ruler underneath) around the uncut end of the box top, securing it to the underside of the box top with glue.

3. Assemble the Desk: Use wood glue to fix a wooden bead with a 3/8-inch inner diameter to one end of a 10-inch (3/8-inch diameter) wooden dowel. Allow all the glue to dry.

4. Slip the dowel into the box and through a roll of paper as shown. A roll of parchment paper cut in half with heavy scissors (a job for parents only) works well. Wrap a rubber band around the end of the dowel opposite the bead to keep the dowel in place.

5. Feed the paper up through the slit in the box top, then under the ribbon, and set the box top in place.

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• November 2004