Make A DIY Document Holder With A Single Binder Clip
When we highlighted our favourite alternate uses for binder clips, it not only brought out the office supply lovers in the crowd, but neat new ideas as well.
Reader lina_zav wrote in to tell us how she keeps her to-do lists in easy view with a quick binder clip hack. A single binder clip and some silly putty is all you need to make this simple document holder. The gadget will stick to any upright surface and easily holds your to-do lists, recipes, or notes. Just stick the silly putty (or maybe some homemade playdough) on the flat end of a binder clip and you’re done. This holder could be perfect for holding notes that you’re copying on top of your monitor or on the side of your desk.
How do you keep notes, to-do lists, and other documents in easy view? Have your own document holder hacks? Tell us in the comments.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@nibarryc:
Right, for larger documents (A4 sized for example) this does not work. I'd say that the limit is A5 in landscape rotation. Longbournes suggestion above might mitigate drooping some for larger sheets of paper but probably not much.
Also check out Tim Murray's suggestion above (and the linked images in my reply). That's perfect for holding A4 sized documents if you have a fitting desktop lamp.
lina_zav
i had a go, and it seems to have problems with normal sized bits of paper that tend to droop down over the monitor.
[irish-oriental.blogspot.com]
If you use two of these, four inches apart, you can hold a regular sheet of paper.
The trick is not to have them parallel, but offset by about 20 degrees.
The paper will curve slightly and stay upright.
(Office-supply stores have a pebble-sized product with a curved slot that uses the same principle.)
@Rosa Golijan: If you put a paperclip vertically in a vise and then bent the half that was sticking out, you'd get this.
Not sure if it would stand up while holding anything, but there you go.
I combine a string of paper clips, hung horizontally across between my bookcase and bed headboard, and some binder clips, to make a sort of photography-reminiscent hanging display thing for paper. I also did this with a vertical string of paper-clips, with two clips attached; one on the bottom, and one midway, to hang two papers.
CarlinaTantalus
I would take a small magnet and glue it to the inside of the binder clip. That way, you can hang it from the side of your (metallic) computer case, light, or refrigerator.
Ben Manns
Perfect idea!
capriccio
@LUXOR: +1 for Gerber multi-plier. My compact sport 600 has come in sooo handy, so many times... It truly is something I don't leave home without (unless I'm going to the airport).
My wife bought me a Leatherman Wave a couple of years ago and the knife blade snapped off within a month. Got the old Gerber back out and still going strong.
nefnet13
I cut stickit notes into thirds and stick them below my laptop screen. They stay forever.
wahoo-yahoo
@Tim Murray:
Good idea! But why join the two clips together through the handles (if that was what you meant)? By instead joining the "black parts" the document will not dangle.
Compare:
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lina_zav
@Skid-Vicious:
:)
Sometimes simple is best.
lina_zav
Clips work really well with desk lamps.
You put one clip on the shade of the lamp, directly below the light source, if possible, so the light shines on it. Then with a slot and twist method, you connect the handle of another clip to the one on the lamp and clip it onto the top of your doc.
I keep my keyboard under the document, so I only look at the monitor to check my work. I focus on what I am copying and let my fingers do the work. Touch typing is a very useful skill.
Tim Murray
So basically it's a paper holder, turned upside down, for holding paper?
Never saw that one coming.
thomash
@Skid-Vicious: I agree! Far too complex. LH, please stop posting these DIY projects that require advanced degrees in engineering.
It looks hard to make, I would need a demo video to learn how to.
Skid-Vicious
@LUXOR: Do you have a picture of this? I'm somehow having trouble visualizing it.
What you need:
1 GERBER + 1 Paper Clip (sm med or lrg your pref.)
What you do:
With the Gerber Multitool or lesser pliers and or equivalent proceed to bend plain paper clip in half with finger or thumb pressed so that both the outer and inner parts are being pressed simultaneously. Not sure of the level of strength required but I'm a guy and it's pretty easy for me.
But basically just bend the paper clip in half so that all parts are bent pretty evenly.
There's a trick to do it just right where you DON'T get it all jacked. And it doesn't block the text if the list is longer. I was experimenting last week while decluttering.
LUXOR
@atomic.resistance: My problem is that my desk doesn't face a wall, so no place to put a screw.
I find it simpler to put urgent notes/to-do lists in a binder clip and hang it on a screw.
atomic.resistance
Awesome!
This is just what I've been needing!
I always type out lyrics from albums most of the time, only problem was I found it difficult to concentrate on the lyrics booklet and monitor at the same time
This will prove very useful. :)
cvelasquez12