Erasers and a favourite crafting accessory

My son came to me this afternoon begging to do a craft. We were originally going to do some painting (that boy loves to paint - I have to limit the amount of paint available to him at one time as he'll keep painting and painting until it is all gone, even if that means his project is a few inches thick!)  When we went downstairs to retrieve the paint we came across this:

I've seen some various projects around involving regular sculpey, but I received this kit in a 'crafting care package' from my mom. (She's basically cleaning out her craft supplies and sending them my way - almost like my own little craft store - except it's always a surprise as to what I receive! )

Anyway, my son saw them when I first received the package a couple of months ago and has been begging to do them almost on a daily basis. He's seen these ads on tv for all these stupid delightful little collectible erasers (like, really, how many erasers does one need?! and isn't the purpose of an eraser to, well, erase stuff, not to collect?!  this is my anti pack rat self ranting here).. Anyway, I digress.

Basically, this stuff works like play-doh, you just mold it into the shapes you want and then bake them in the oven for 10 minutes. Pretty cool.


Please don't judge the little critters that I made.

Yes, I made them. This is how my son tends to play play-doh and the like. He gets the stuff out and then instructs me what to make. Yah, so educational and enriching for him, I'm sure.

Anyway, they would have turned out slightly better if dear son had not gone and lost the little rolling pin and sculpting knife that came with the kit. He discovered them, and they disappeared shortly after we received the kit (anything that looks like a weapon...boys).


Now onto one of my new favourite crafting accessories.

I received mine in my stocking this past Christmas and I think it's the handiest little tool.

(source: Lee Valley website)
You see, I don't have a craft room to call my own, so most of my crafting usually takes place on my kitchen table. This little thing is great for laying on the table (it takes the place of newspapers) It's got a glossy finish on it, so if I'm painting with acrylic paints, etc. the spills chip off easily.

If you're anything like me, I tend to get carried away crafting and not notice the time, but will suddenly look up and realize that I need to get busy making supper and need to clean up my crafting stuff in a hurry. Well on this little gem, the corners snap together to make itself into a little tray, then I can just pick the whole thing up and remove it back to my junk heap craft stash in the basement until the next time I'm able to pick up my crafting.

And the best part? It's only 5 smackeroos!  You can find it here.

There are a couple other things there that I have on my wish list, such as their painting triangles and glue spreaders. I bought some of their rare earth magnets last year to use in the quiet book I made for my son for Christmas (post to come soon!) Much cheaper than the ones at Michaels! I love Lee Valley (and no, this is not a paid or otherwise compensated post, I just really love them.)

What about you? Do you have a favourite crafting gizmo, accessory, etc. that you use?