early gifts are fun gifts

I got an early birthday present! I'd been thinking about getting an e-reader but had decided not to because I a) like books, b) have a large library, and c) couldn't justify the cost of one even if it was a birthday gift. Then last Sunday at the god-awful hour of 625 a.m. I was awakened and handed an Amazon printout. "I won this at the meeting this morning. Happy birthday." (Home Depot likes to have their monthly meetings at 430 a.m. on Sunday mornings and prizes are an incentive, apparently.)

Believe me, I was excited! While it's not the most expensive of tablets, it is really rather nice and works fantastically. It's pink. Bright pink. With one tiny little thing that was driving me nuts: 

Yep. The need of the manufacturer to put the name of the tablet in big, bold, black letters on the back of it. What's a girl to do? After doing some Googling and discovering that there really aren't any skins specifically for this tablet, I decided to get creative. That's right: I got out a small part of the Washi Tap collection. 

After running over the back with a baby wipe to give it a quick clean, I very carefully lined up each piece of tape. My plan was to go back the opposite direction with the thin stripes but when I got started with them, I realized that I should have gone for a pattern and done some tape weaving. 

So I peeled it all off and started again. No rhyme or reason. I used a strip of wide going horizontal, then 3 strips of narrow going, alternating back and forth until I finished. It's not the cleanest job ever, but I didn't intend it to be. I like that it's off-kilter and multi-color/pattern. The best part about Washi Tape is when I tire of this design and want to try something else (I, um, have a rather large collection of tape) I can pull it off with no issues. It won't leave a residue, it will peel off easily, and the possibilities are endless as to what I can do with it.

I also made a small carrying case for it, with a pocket for my headphones and one for my stylus, because I'm constantly misplacing both!