Pretty Pencils for Craft Fairs & Stocking Fillers

Thank you for joining me today, I hope you are having a great week.

Matt and Emma’s wedding is only 3 1/2 weeks away and I still have a lot of work to do.  This week I’m adding the finishing touches to the wedding favours, I have 110 butterflies to die-cut and 110 brides to die-cut too.  Then I start the messy job of making and colouring the tissue paper carnations they want for the centrepieces on the tables.

With craft fair season coming up a few subscribers asked for craft fair ideas and I have made a variety of post-it-note holders, covered notebooks and also different ways to prettify pencils.  I’m starting with the pencils today.

Last year I needed some cheap stocking fillers and I bought several packs of pencils in the pound shop. Because we’re all really busy at Christmas time I needed a quick way to prettify them so I put them in Cello Bags added a tag or a sentiment, attached a bow and called it done.  These were quick and inexpensive and could be made for craft fairs.  Click here if you would like to see this blog post.

Each week I try to set aside some time for a design day.  I have an inspiration drawer that has post-it-notes, notebooks, candles, pencils, playing cards, lip balms etc and I rummage through it, pull out a few things and then work on ideas for pretty packaging. This is also a great way to find your crafting mojo again.

On Saturday I had a design day and I came up with several ideas to ‘prettify the pencils’.  All the projects I made were made with specific people in mind.

You can make these projects with any DSP you have in your craft supplies but if you would like to purchase any DSP or any of the products I’ve used I would be honoured if you chose me as your Stampin’ Up! demonstrator.

This is the easiest and quickest project to make.  I cut a piece of Tropical Escape DSP, added Tear & Tape along one of the long sides, tightly wrapped the DSP around the pencils and adhered.

The ‘For You‘ (from the Cake Soiree stamp set) was stamped with Granny Apple Green ink and punched with a 1″ circle punch.  From a scrap of  Granny Apple Green cardstock I punched a 1-1/8″ circle with the 1-1/8″ scalloped circle punch. You can also use the Layering Circle Framelits dies instead of the punches.

You could leave it like this but I also wanted to show you how you can step it up.  I put the holder in a 8″ x 2″ cello bag, made a topper using the Scalloped Tag Topper punch and added some 1/2″ Granny Apple Green ribbon and Whisper White bakers twine for the bow.

The photo shows some alternatives to the Tropical Escapes DSP, the polka dot and the striped DSP are both from the Brights 6″ x 6″ DSP pack. See details at the bottom of this post.

When designing this box I had originally intended to make a full size box but then I remembered someone telling me about packaging getting damaged because people would open the boxs to see what was inside.  I changed the design of the holder because of this. You could also put this holder in a cello bag and make a topper for it.

I used Blackberry Bliss cardstock for the holder, it’s my favourite colour, and the beautiful Natures Poem DSP on the front.

For the bow I used the Blackberry Bliss twine from the Natures Twine combo pack.

The photo shows other papers you could use. The butterfly design is from the Tea Room Speciality DSP pack and the leaf design is also in the Natures Poem DSP pack.

The final project I made was the Santa’s Workshop Pencil Box.

This box takes longer to make but I definitely think it is worth taking the time to make.  The Santa’s Workshop box is definitely my favourite.  Because this post is already really long and I’m running out of time to get it finished and published I’m going to write a separate tutorial for this box.

UPDATE: The tutorial for the Santa’s Workshop Pencil Holder can be found here.

If you don’t want to miss the blog post for the Santa’s Workshop Pencil Box add your email address to the ‘subscribe via email’ link at the top of the right hand column and you will receive my posts via email.

Have yourself some crafting fun.

Dee x

Dimensions*

To pencils I am using are 1/4″ x 7-5/16″.  Please measure your pencils and adjust the measurements of the holders if necessary.

To make the Tropical Escapes Cello Bag version

Products used 

I used a piece of Tropical Escapes DSP that measures 3″ (w) x 6″ (h).  Add Tear and Tape along one of the 6″ edges, fold the DSP tightly around the pencils and adhere.

To make the Topper for the Cello Bag

4 -1/4″ x 1-1/2″ piece of Tropical Escape Designer Series Paper (DSP).

• Score on the long side at 2″ and 4″.  Fold along the scorelines, you don’t really need to burnish them.
• Fold the DSP at the 2″ score line and tuck the tab inside.  I stuck a post-in-note on one of the long sides so that I had something to hold while I was lining it up in the Scalloped Top Tag punch.
• Because you’re using DSP and not cardstock the punch will punch through both layers of the DSP at the same time.  I wouldn’t use a punch to punch through 2 layers of cardstock at the same time because it could break the punch.

On the inside of the topper add the adhesive of your choice along the bottom and also on the side tab.

I found the easiest way for me to adhere the topper was to remove part of the tapes liner and line it up on the front of the cello bag and adhere.  I then removed the rest of liner and adhered the back and then the side tab.  The ribbon held the top part together but you can add some adhesive there too.

To make the Nature’s Poem Holder

Products used 

Blackberry Bliss cardstock: 5-3/4″ x 3-1/8″.

• Score the long side at 1/4″ and 1/2″.  Score the short side at 7/8″ and 1-1/8″ on both sides.
• Fold and burnish your scorelines.
• At the bottom of the holder you will need to cut and mitre the tabs.  I used Tear and Tape to adhere the box.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

*When designing a project or when I CASE (Copy And Share Everything) someone’s project I ALWAYS make it with some cheap cardstock first. When typing up lots of measurements mistakes can be made, we are human after all. It doesn’t help that I have Dyscalculia. When making any project I recommend you make it first with the cheap stuff.*

This tutorial is the Intellectual property of Diane Copus-Read and is for Personal Use only.

If you CASE this project please be sure to include my name and a link to my website/blog post whether this be on Social Media or any video tutorial or blog post you do.  You can copy/paste this link http://www.ladydeecrafts.co.uk/prettifying-pencils/

Thank you.

Dee Copus-Read x