For Christmas I had a number of people on my list, and I had no idea what to get them. After a bit of thinking I decided to get Sugru for everyone!
Mainly, I wanted a couple packs of sugru for myself but wasn't sure I could go through the entire 12 pack in 6 months. Sugru does have an expiration date and I didn't want to waste it.
But wait, what is sugru? Sugru is an adhesive, moldable, permanent silicone putty. What does that mean?
Think of things that would be better in your life with a little silicone putty. Your paring knife is wicked sharp but the handle is just a little too small? Build a new custom handle! You like your eyeglasses but they don't have the little pads that keep them from slipping down your nose? Add new pads! Got a crack in your lens cap? Fix it!
I got one 12 pack of sugru from Adafruit, and on Christmas at the party I opened it up and let everyone take the colors they wanted. I had never used any before but I jumped right in and cracked open an orange pack. I used that to repair a frayed iphone cable and used the other half of the pack to insulate my mom's house key (she keeps freezing her fingers on it when she goes to unlock the door.)
Everyone loved the sugru and instantly thought of a ton of things to do with it.
For my next pack, I'm going to repair a broken doll and fix the broken clip on my pedometer. I haven't done it yet though. Turns out the instructions point out that if you are susceptible to allergies, or if you have sensitive skin, you probably want to wear gloves while handling sugru before it cures. I am neither susceptible to allergies, nor do I have sensitive skin. But a year or so ago I developed a sensitivity to traditional photographic chemicals and I had to switch to non-traditional photo chemicals. And about a half hour after handling the sugru I noticed that familiar prickling skin feeling that I got when using film developer.
So I'm relegated to using gloves. That's okay I guess but I don't have any gloves on hand, so it'll have to wait until I can get to the store.
If you are interested, check out all of the cool things that people are using sugru for!