50 cent Pen Caddy

I found it! My MoJo is back!!

I was looking around in my craft area for something to create today when I came across a bunch of metal buckets I bought at Dollar General YEARS ago for 50 cents each (maybe cheaper, I can't remember!). They came in purple or black with glitter circles all over them. They were a Halloween decoration placed on clearance when I bought them. They sat in my mom's house for a few more years until she threw them away and I dug them out of the trash we came across them and I took them home to live in my closet for another 4 years!

I originally wanted to cover the bucket with some patterned paper and use it to hold my pens for my sign-in sheet at work (as a Head Start teacher). I couldn't figure out how to just attach a piece of paper around the bucket. And that's how the project began.....

I started out with some patterned paper from the "Nana's Kids" stack from DCWV, scissors, modpodge, and a bucket. I cut the patterned paper into squares using the pattern in the paper as a guide. Then I covered a part of my bucket with modpodge and coated the back of the first piece with Modpodge. I pressed the piece on and then brushed Modpodge over the top. I made a pattern with my pieces and covered all of those glittery dots.

I let that dry and then pulled out my ribbon! I chose all the ribbons that looked like they would coordinate with my bucket.

I tied ribbons around the handle. I made sure to keep it even visually by tying a ribbon on the left when I tied one on the right. I used the thin pink ribbon more generously than the other colors because it was thin and also my only pink! (I didn't use all of the ribbons pictured)

Now, if you know me, you know that good enough is never enough! I decided I needed some personalized pens to go inside the bucket!

You can buy some "RSVP" pens pretty inexpensively and put your patterned paper INSIDE the barrel of the pen. I did something a little different because:

                       a. I wanted to personalize them with a "return to:" label

                       b. I wanted to use cheap pens I already own bacuse they will

                     eventually walk off even with my name on them!

 So I got some patterned papers together (I actually didn't use the ones pictured because they were so thick that I decided to use something thinner and easier to wrap around a pen! I printed the "return to:" labels on Microsoft Word in an 8 point Arial font. I cut them into tiny little strips. I also cut my patterned paper into 4x1-3/4 inch strips.

I then used my adhesive to adhere the patterned paper to the outside of each pen. I cut a 4 inch strip of packing tape and wrapped it around the pen. I cut the excess off with a pair of sharp scissors. I then poured some clear acrylic stones in the bottom of the bucket to hold the pens upright and to make them "stick up" out of the top of the bucket.

This is a close up of my little personalization. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by! Alicia Tweet