Dollar store crafts.
I bought a bunch of crap to make my new table surface more useful, since the actual wood sucks up hand grease like a hungry vampire.
My first attempt was a map of the continental united states. It was the correct size, and I thought it might be a neat little departure from the usual boring surface.
When I was a kid, we had dinner trays that were similar, so it was a bit nostalgic too.
My computer mouse freaked out pretty bad, so that's a dollar down. Might still hang the map on the wall.
Next up was a vinyl paper wrap. It's only 12 inches tall, but it's actually wide enough to hang over the edge.
The mouse works fine on it, and glides smooth. I think this is a winner.
Still not sure if I'll actually peel and apply it, but I can decide on that later.
I am glad I didn't have to go to my third option, one of those plastic tablecloths for parties.
I also found out you can use a box of movie theater candy as a book end, so long as it remains full.
I found a keycap puller at goodwill so I might clean the tray on my keyboard later, just have to look up which keys have the wire underneath, so I don't snap anything.
I consider this experiment to be a success, but the dollar tree has flipped over to self-checkout, and I am not a fan of that at all.
The clerk was rude. She did a manual review on my purchase, but not on any of the other customers. She was very snippy and didn't like that I used my debit card instead of feeding cash into the checkout kiosk.
She could have saved both of our time by manning an actual register.