My most used item in my craft room would have to be my Tonic Studios Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat. It has taken a ton of well loved use from all sorts of materials and mediums.

They recommend cleaning the glass mat with regular alcohol and hand sanitizer for stickier messes.

It's also a good idea to clean it once in a  while with some Expo Dry Erase Surface Cleaner, after you've degunked it with regular cleaning. Yes, it has alcohol in it to clean but it also has a conditioner in it to help the protect the glass.
​
Over time, white boards can get dried out with over use. I used to have one in my classroom that could only be cleaned with a Comet style bathroom cleaner. Not good.

They also have other Expo Whiteboard Care like a 3 step process for white boards if you really want to pamper your glass mat.

Try it once and you'll be sure to notice the difference.

Other than watercolor, which I hardly ever use, my brushes get pretty grungy. I'm not the greatest at taking care of my brushes so when I have to clean them- I really have to clean them.

I found a silicone oven grip at a yard sale last year that I've been using to clean my brushes (works great for makeup brushes too). It's just soft enough, yet textured enough that I can really scrub my brushes against. 

It's reusable, easy to clean and dries quickly.

Use a mild dish soap or even a facial cleanser for your brushes. If your bristles get too dry, scrub them in some hair conditioner to retain softness.

The textured grips also make great stamping platforms (:

If you haven't found an easy way to store and manage your unmounted stamps, then you might like this one.

I have a little shelf on my table that I store my stamps in Standard Clear CD Jewel Case- the old thick ones, not the thin ones.

While most stamp sets are photo size, there are some that aren't. This is really great for some of those stamps that cling to the backing like they should or those really little odd shaped ones. 

You can stamp the designs on a scrap piece of paper to use as the CD cover for easy searching.

Alternatively, if you have a bunch of wood mounted stamps that you wouldn't mind being unmounted, peel them from the wood backing and store them in a case. It will save you quite a bit of space!

You can easily find a CD holder at a thrift store these days to display your stamps that won't take up near as much space as would photo boxes and stamp binders.

India Ink: pictured here is Higgins Waterproof Black India Ink but Speedball Super Black India Ink is cheaper per volume and a little bit thinner formula- which is better for refilling pens.

I tend to go through a lot of black ink pens and markers. My favorite writing pens to date are the Sharpie Fine Point Pen- they're rick black, archival and have a wonderful bold nib.

They're also pretty pricy for as much as I use them for.

I refill my pens as much as possible until they absolutely quit on me. Sharpie Fine Point Pens can be refilled with Speedball Super Black India Ink (I put a drop of alcohol in there too to help thin out the ink).

You can also refill your other pens as long as you refill it with the same type of ink in there. If you don't know, Google it. I refill my regular permanent Sharpies with black dye ink and alcohol and haven't had to replace near as many as I used to.

To refill, simply pull the nib off the pen gently with a pair of pliers. Some pens you may have to pull the bottom off to refill and some pens you just can't pull anything off. Sorry.

Once you've exposed the barrel, place a few (2-5 drops depending on how dry your pen is) into the barrel and then replace the nib. Store the pen upright so the ink can fully drain into the barrel. 

*There may be a splurge of ink coming out the nib the first few times you use it afterwards, so be careful!