I am too cheap to spend $25 on a quality mouse pad, so I decided to make my own. Everything should be under $5. I'm using it with a Logitech G5 laser mouse, and have tested it with a Razer Copperhead laser mouse and a cheap Microsoft ball mouse. Works great with all of them, glides well and tracks perfectly.

Step 1: Gather Materials.

You will need:

-Transparencies (number depends on how many mouse pads you want to make). Make sure you do not get printer transparencies, they tend to have some kind of glue on them that allows the ink to stick better. This will ruin the feet of your mouse.
-Very fine grit sandpaper
-A flat surface

Step 2: Sand.

Before you start this step try using your mouse on the plain transparency. Mine felt sticky and did not glide at all, but your transparencies may be different. If you do not like the feel, cut or tear the sandpaper into a small square. Lightly sand one side of the transparency in one direction. It does not matter which direction, I sanded parallel to the sides. After you have completely sanded one side, sand perpendicular to the direction you just sanded. In the interest of contrast, my pictures show me sanding off the newspaper which is a bad idea since it is a wood table. In reality, make sure what you are sanding underneath is meant to be sanded.

Step 3: Review.

When you think you have finished sanding, hold your transparency up to the light to check for spots you may have missed.

Step 4: Wash.

In hot water wash off the sanded trasparency. Get rid of all the extra plastic you removed. Dry.

Step 5: Enjoy.

I play a lot of Counter-Strike (1.6 and Source, I go by "low"). I also spray painted one of the pads I made just for decoration. If you decide to do this, you will also need to sand the side of the transparency that you want to paint.