Giant Pencil Tutorial

For my Teacher Appreciation Week themed monthly dinner, I decided to make a DIY giant pencil for my centerpiece.  It turned out really cute, and I've had quite of few people ask me to post about how to make it. I think a bit smaller version of it would make an excellent teacher appreciation gift for an elementary teacher at the beginning or end of the school year. You can even drill holes in the top that can fit colored pencils or markers if you want it have functionality instead of just being cute decor.

Step 1: Purchase a 4x4 block of wood.  I purchased mine at Home Depot.  Now, the entire 8' block will run you just under $10, but since I only needed about 4 feet, I looked through the Home Depot stack for a block with half of it damaged. Home Depot gave me a 70% discount since the majority of the wood was unusable for most projects.  For me, it was perfect.  I paid just over $3 for the wood and then just cut off the damaged portion. 

Step 2 and 3:  Use power tools to shape the wood to look like a pencil.  My husband did this for me using a reciprocating saw and a belt sander. I forgot to take photos as he did it, but you can imagine the cutting needed to make the block pencil shaped.  Next, I painted the wood a golden color. I used paint I already had and mixed yellow with orange until I matched the designed pencil color.

Step 4:  I used pink to paint the eraser part of the pencil.  Don't worry about painting all the way to the yellow because that part will be covered.

Step 5:  I used my Cricut machine to create a stencil with blue painter's tape for the #2  portion.

Then I painted it black.  Once it dried slightly, I pealed the painter's tape off and then touched up any areas.

Step 6:  Paint the tip of the pencil black.  I left the wood part unpainted to keep the wood look.

Step 7:  Use foil tape (a Home Depot purchase) to wrap around the pencil under the eraser to match the metal look of a real No. 2 pencil.

That's it! I put the the finished pencil on my table with a ruler table runner I made out of cardstock.

Newspaper Roses Tutorial

After posting my dad's Black, White, and "Read" All Over Crossword Puzzle party, several readers asked me to provide a tutorial for the newspaper roses.  On this last day of summer, I am finally getting to it!! These roses are definitely easy, but they can be time consuming. I did 8 bouquets for my dad's party, each with 6-8 roses in them, so it took some time.

Supplies Needed:

• Newspaper/Crossword puzzle book
• Pencils (or other item you wish to use as the stem)
• Tape
• Scissors

Step One:  Using scissors, cut a circle/oval out of newspaper.  Any size is fine on this.  Mine were about an inch or so larger than a DVD disk.  You do not have to have a perfect circle.  When you have your circle, cut in a spiral about an inch from the edge.  I am normally a perfectionist, but I eye-ball this and just cut.  It doesn't make any difference in the finished product.  If you are really worried, you can draw it first. 

Step Two:  The "stem" of my newspaper rose was a pencil, but you can use whatever you want.  Place the pencil a bit in from the edge of the paper (as shown).  You will need to start with the outermost part of your spiral and place your pencil toward the center so that your roses fan out correctly.

Step Three:  Begin to roll the pencil along the spiral.  You want to begin with a fairly tight roll, but it can/will loosen as you go. I rolled a couple of times and then taped the spiral to the pencil there.  This kept it from moving while I rolled the rest of it.  Keep rolling until the spiral is completely rolled around the pencil.

Step Four:  Fold the paper closest to the erase down to hide the top of the eraser and serve as the center of your rose.  Then, as you are holding the rolled spiral and pencil,  slowly loosen your hold on the spiral and allow it to "bloom" into the fullness you desire. I found it also helps to turn the pencil counterclockwise to loosen the spiral as well.  You'll need to experiment with this step to find what tightness/appearance you most desire.  When I found the look I wanted, I placed a small piece of tape on the spiral to secure it as well as adhere it to the pencil.  This prevented it from moving from where I wanted it.

Step Five:  Cut 3 diamonds out of your newspaper for the petals.  Again, the size is up to you, and they do not need to be exact.  Just eyeball it...no two petals on real roses are the same.  Tape these petals, one at a time, to the pencil.  Then fold them down to make your petals.  I found these petals also help secure the rose and prevent it from changing shape/dropping from the top.

Once you place these in your vase, your newspaper rose bouquet is complete!  I cannot tell you how many comments I got on these at my dad's birthday party and my monthly dinner. I took one vase to put on my desk at work, and my students love them!

DIY Wine Bottle Candles

I have received several emails asking how I cut the wine bottles for my Wild About Wine party, so I thought I would provide a quick tutorial.

The supplies you will need:

• Glass Cutting Tool (Lowes $4)
• Magazines/books
• Plenty of empty wine bottles
• tea kettle to boil water
• protective eye wear
• Dremel with grinding stone

Step One:  Make sure your wine bottles are empty, clean, and the cork/lid is removed.  Then place the bottle on a table and use books/magazines to elevate the glass cutter to the desired height. I cut all my bottles a quarter inch or so above the label.  I used books at the bottom of the stack and magazines at the top because the magazines are able to form around the glass cutter making it more adjustable.

Step Two:  My husband held the stack of magazines/cutter down firmly so the blade did not move.  Make sure you eye it to make sure it is level as well before you begin. Next, I pressed the bottle firmly into the blade so that it scored the bottle rotating it to get a continuous score around the entire bottle.  It took several tries for me to figure out how to do this, so start with practice bottles (not your cherished bottle from your wedding day!).

Step Three: Boil water in a tea kettle. I placed an old towel in the bottom of the sink to prevent the bottle from dropping into the hard sink and breaking, but this is not essential.  Hold the scored bottle over the towel and slowly pour the hot water from the kettle over the scored line, rotating the bottle as you pour.  Repeat this with cold water from the faucet. We found that a steady light stream of water is best.  The larger stream seemed to cause more breaks.  Continue alternating between the hot and cold water until the bottle naturally breaks and comes apart. Reminder: Make sure the lid/cork is off!!

If you are using the tops of the bottles as your candle holder, you can be done at this point.  You do not need to sand the edges because an uneven edge actually helps your candle flame stay lit. It allows air a pathway inside beyond just the top. However, if you are placing these directly on a table, I recommend lightly sanding them to avoid rough edges scratching your table. 

If you are making a candle holder with the bottom, continue with the fourth step...

Step Four:  Take a sander and carefully sand the top of the rim to give it a smooth edge.  Make sure you wear protective goggles for safety.  If you don't have a Dremel, you can use very fine sand paper it will just take much longer and is a difficult job.

After sanding the top to even the edges, rinse out the bottle and you're ready for your candle!  Optional:  You can polish the sanded edge which would look even better.  The only reason I didn't do this is because I did all these bottles hours before the party started and ran out of time!!

Hope your wine bottle candles turn out great!