How do I make an icon and put it on the desktop?

["Michael J. Weed" <michael idi org il>]

Howdy!

I am used to kde, but am trying gnome since it is becoming increasingly
popular.

I have adjusted my Panel to my liking, but now would like to add several
icons to my desktop.  I'd like a printer icon, cd-writer icon, floppy
icon, file manager (gmc) icon, e-macs icon, zip drive icon.

I have a 3 button mouse (right clicking on the icon does nothing for
me).

I have all these icons in kde.

Please specify what I must do to create any of the above.

Thanks.