31 Cute Back to School Tutorials

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It’s August, which means two things.  Cooler temperatures coming and time for Back to School!

It’s strange for me to make a big deal about that since I’m been out of school forever and I don’t have kids of my own going either.  But I still get excited when I see sales on school supplies and find myself stocking up on notebooks and such, call them “office supplies”.  And these “office supplies” need a personal touch.

So let the school crafts begin.

Cute Back to School Tutorial Round Up

Pouches and Cases

Because you can’t have enough places to stash supplies.

• Diy Watermelon Zipper Pouch – You can also try making lemon or orange pouches.
• 3 Creative School DIYs: DIY Ice Cream & Piano Pencil Cases + DIY Animal Pencil Cases out of Socks – It’s a video with some cute ideas.
• Monster Pencil Case Back to School Craft for Kids – This one is easy for kids to make.
• Binder Pouch Tutorial – It’s a nice pouch, uses grommets and some vinyl.
• Three Ring Binder Pencil Case Sewing Tutorial – A zippered pouch with two sections.
• Pencil cases – These ones are very cute and use Velcro.
• Roll up Cord Holder – Good for chargers or ear buds.
• Upcycled Soda Box Pencil Cases – This one looks surprisingly cool.

Pencils and Pens

Cute ways to jot down everything from homework to shopping lists.

• Sparkler Pencils – Great for Summer too.
• Ribbon Wrapped Pens Tutorial – My own tutorial.
• Diy Neon Pens – Super easy and cool.
• Painted Back to School Pencils – A classic.
• Diy Confetti Pencils – This one’s my favorite. :)

Notebooks and Binders

Cute binders make organizing fun and notebook make great gifts!

• Notebook Folder Tutorial – It’s like a case for a notepad.
• Fabric Covered Books – A great alternative to store-bought book covers.
• Easy Heart Design Journal – This one is particularly cute and easy.
• Diy Notebooks – Decorate notebooks with pretty paper and labels.
• Diy Washi Tape Binder Covers – This one is brilliant!

Backpacks and Bags

Carry your books or lunch in cute style.

• DIY Easy Backpack from Scratch | DIY Rilakkuma Backpack – Who wouldn’t want a bear shaped back pack?
• Lunch Box Bag Tutorial – Has a more sophisticated look to it, but I would love to see it made from a kawaii print fabric.
• Diy Rainbow Watercolor Backpack – This looks so pretty and easy too.
• Notebook Lunch bag Tutorial – This one looks really cool.

Organization

Because back to school clutter happens.

• Free Printable Binder Clip Labels – Intended for the classroom, but it works at home too.
• Button Bookmarks – Made with paper clips, could use just as clips too.
• Mug Organizer – This one would make a nice teacher gift too.
• Rainbow Crayon Holder – Uses recycled cans and would be good to teach kids their colors.
• Diy Wood Caddy – Similar idea to the crayon holder.
• Organize Office Supplies in Style with a Plastic Parts Chest. – This one is my favorite.

School Supplies for Dolls and Toys

Because they are so darn cute!

• American Girl Doll Diy Mini Notebooks – Teeny little notebooks for your favorite doll.
• Miniature Kawaii Crayons (Actually Works) and Box –  A cute video, make this cute box of crayons or just watch.
• DIY - How to Make:  POKEMON - Doll Draw String Backpack – A simple drawstring backpack with a familiar face.

A few useful supplies:

• Coats & Clark All-Purpose Plastic Zipper
• FolkArt® Acrylic Colors 2 oz.
• Crate Paper Cute Girl Pack of 36 6''x6'' Paper Pad
• Norcom Spiral Notebook 5pk 70 pgs. 8.5" x 10"
• BIC® Xtra Life Ballpoint Pens 10ct
• #2 Wood Pencils 8 ct
• Universal® Mini Binder Clips 1/4" 12 pk

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My Trip to Phoenix Comicon 2016

I know I mentioned that I was going to Phoenix Comicon this year (see Sailor Moon? No, Just a Uniform), but I never did say anything about how it went.

It’s hard to put such things in words, so I actually made a short video of it.  Here is just a small taste of what it was like.

Now that you finished that, I thought I should give a few more details, at least about what I brought home.

You saw the grab bag I got at J-list in the video…

…and the random stuff that came out of it.  Now what will I do with it all?

The train shaped food tray will probably be fun for lunch and stuff.

I’ve gotten a lot of use out of the travel mug.  I fill it up with green tea for early mornings.  Nothing like tea in a cute mug to brighten the day.

I haven’t yet used the leek pen, but it will come in handy.

I’m afraid the DVD titles aren’t very appealing to me.  I may give them away or take them to Bookman’s.

I’m sure this clock thing will be useful as soon as I figure out how to use it.  I think it’s really cute, but I kind of have the urge to whip out my glue gun and add bows or something to it.

The bento t-shirt is adorable, one can never have too many t-shirts.  And if I don’t wear it as is, I could turn it into something cute.

Here’s a better look at the tag.

And this is the strangest thing right?  I was surprised it was a Sanrio character.  That’s right, the company that brought us Hello Kitty also created Kirimi-Chan.  A character with a giant salmon filet for a head.

And this is a giant inflatable pork chop for you to wear on your head, because one of Kirimi-Chan's friends is a pork chop.  I’m not sure what to do with it, but I kind of want to keep it just because it’s hilarious.

Now the cute stationery set.  I wish I had thought to ask the vendor for a business card or something.  All the stuff they had were so cute including this set.  I’m still at that stage where it’s so cute that I can’t use this stuff for fear of ruining it.

When that’s over, I will probably use the cute bear pencil like crazy for drawing and designing.  The pen would be great for jotting down notes, especially in the notebook.  It’s perfect for shopping lists and such.  The eraser is perfect because one can never have enough, and I can use the pouch to sort out these and all my other pencils and stuff.

Overall, it was super fun and hopefully next year will be fun too. 

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Major Craft De-Stash, Part 2

Continuing on from the last post, I have now finished sorting through my craft stash.  Yay!  And it only took a few days.

Anyway, let’s take a look.

First batch is all my scraps and small fabric remnants.  I had a ton of them.  Perfect for making tiny things like doll clothes and accessories, but how many of those do I possibly need?

After sorting, I’m down to half.

The stuff I’m keeping is in the basket, the rest is history.  I found stuff I completely forgot I had and stuff I wished I had gotten rid of sooner.

Since the last batch was small fabric bits, it made to since to move on the larger fabric pieces.  Large enough to for major projects like dresses and such, but only if I actually want to use the fabric.

Now again, the stuff I’m keeping is all that pretty fabric in the basket.  The large amount of fleece and stuff on the outside is going.  The kids will have fun with it. 

Something I’ve noticed that it is so much easier to get rid of fabrics when they were free to me or really cheap to buy as opposed to stuff I had to pay a good amount for, even if I don’t like the pattern on the paid for stuff.  Something to do with that initial investment and wanting to get my money’s worth I guess. 

Of course maybe it means I should be more careful about which fabrics I buy in the future or how much of it I buy.  Like if for some reason I have to buy some fabric I don’t like much, I should know exactly how much I need and only buy that much.

And the final batch?  Everything else! 

All the random stuff I tend to collect for crafts as well as office supplies that are useful or cute.  It’s the cute stuff that are particularly hard to part with.

Which is probably why the stuff I’m getting rid of isn’t quite as cute, still fairly random though.  They include a pvc pipe scrap, reading glasses, and a charger for am unknown device.  And now I won’t have to deal with them anymore.  The only thing left to do is to think up of things to make with the craft supplies I have left.

Here’s the updated list:

• lining
• patterns
• lace
• pins
• scraps
• fabric
• supplies
• uniform

Seven down, just one more to go.  The final projects should be up in a couple of days, look forward to it.

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Catching Up: Celebrate with Cuteness

My birthday was last month, and just like last year, we celebrated with a trip to the cutest place ever.  The Sanrio Store.

Warning: The word “cute” will be used quite a bit in this post for obvious reasons.  Some people may be annoyed by this and therefore should click away right now.

Cute cute, cute cute cute cute cute and cute.  Typing it just because I can.

Anyway, it was a visit to the cutest store around, so naturally I came back with tons of super cute stuff.

I got a set of really cute folders with some characters I’m not familiar with, but since they are fluffy adorable bunnies, why not?  Funny is that when I got them I wasn’t sure if they were folders or some other stationary item.  Either way they would still be handy.

I got this cute Hello Kitty tote bag mostly because it was on clearance and tote bags are super handy to have around.  I prefer my cute items to be both cute and useful.  More practical that way, not to mention more economical.

More useful cute items, a My Melody bento box and a set of Hello Kitty utensils.  Make food cuter and more enjoyable.

And of course this Hello Kitty pencil with a cute little charm on it.  It’s a really nice pencil too with a comfortable grip.  The only problem is that it looks so much like a pen and doesn’t have an eraser too.  Also it didn’t occur to me until after we left that I probably should have gotten a cute eraser to match.

And now the grab bag, my friends got it for me just like last year.  I love grab bags in general, but the ones from Sanrio are fantastic.  Filled with adorably cute items and they are even wrapped in super cute bags.  So what’s inside?

In this one was a Hello Kitty folder, a coil bracelet with a cute Hello Kitty charm, a Hello Kitty finger tip ring, and a set of Jewel Pets “pencil caps”.  At least that’s what I think they are, since I saw similar things in the store that were labeled as that.

I almost bought a pack of them, but I don’t have to now since they came in my grab bag anyway.  I thought they would be handy.  They are an easy and reusable way of making plain pencils cuter.  The finger tip ring is a bit odd though, it would make a great doll-sized bracelet though.

Over all, tons of cute items to enjoy, that is until my next birthday.

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Back to School!! On Pinterest

August always makes me think of Fall which always, always makes me think of school and all that comes with it.  I love this time of year.  It’s been years since I have so much as taken a single class, but I still get excited when I see sales on notebooks and stuff.  It’s still useful stuff to have around the house anyway, especially when it’s cute.  Nothing like pretty office supplies.  And since things are cuter when you craft them yourself, and I tend to honor all occasions with Pinterest, I created my annual Back to School pin board.  Here for your enjoyment.

Back to School 2015 Pin Board

Some Highlights:

• Button Paperclip Bookmarks
• Rollup Cord Holder
• Binder Pouch Tutorial
• Notebook Folder

As usual with my seasonal pin boards, I will add new pins throughout the year regardless of season.  Check out my boards for other holidays/occasions too.

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Pretty Supplies

Not wanting to put things off too much (since when?), I got started right away and completed two projects.

First, I got these pens at Wal-Mart for 74 cents for a 15 pack.  Cheap price and they write quite well.  The problem is how plain they look.  How to fix that?

Modpodge anyone?  I cut strips of tissue paper and brushed on Modpodge before wrapping around each pen.  When they dried, I gave each pen a coat to protect.  Simple to do and the results are pleasing.  For the four pens on the left, I experimented with using scrapbook paper.  They look pretty cool, but it isn’t something I would recommend.  The scrapbook paper is a little too thick and it makes it hard to stick the caps back on.  Tissue paper is a-ok. 

Next is the binder.  I still have my old binder from last year, but I needed a second one.  This one I already had lying around the house.  It just needed the special touch.

Enter the binder cover.  Just like the last one I made (see Clean and Covered) except this one is pink and lacy.  I added a couple of tiny bows because not only do they add such a nice touch, but without them I can’t tell which side is the front side.  See I can be practical sometimes.
Here’s the updated list:

• Pens
• Binder
• Lunch bag
• Backpack
• Button
• Scarf
• Doll house

Two down, five to go.  The next one will be up either tomorrow or Friday.

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New Use for Erasers

So I got a pack of cute Hello Kitty erasers from the dollar section at Target.  I guess lately I have been in to collecting cute erasers, I have several of those food shaped ones.

Anyway, I thought they would be cute as jewelry so I made these simple eraser necklaces.  I used a skewer to make a hole through the eraser, and then threaded some ribbon through with a large needle.  Just add some decorative beads and tie it off to finish.  This could probably be good to do with kids, assuming they don’t handle the skewer part.  Getting skewered wouldn’t be fun.

Here’s the updated list:

• Needle case
• Mug cozy
• Pants
• Hair accessories
• Brooches
• Necklace
• Other jewelry
• Food
• Top
• Skirt

Seven down, three to go.  The next project should be up Saturday at the latest, it’s turning out to be more difficult than I thought. 

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A Nifty Idea and an Update

While painting pencils and other stuff I came up with a decent way let the pencils dry without sticking to the table or getting smudged up.
I used an old plastic flower pot turned upside down.  What’s great is that this is one of those pots that usual get tossed out when the plant is put in the ground.  And I didn’t have to do anything to it, it’s like it was designed for this.

I also managed to tackle something on my list with all the painting I did, although it meant I didn’t get much sleep last night.  Check out my new binder clips, and yes I am still hooked on polka dots.  And so here’s the updated list:

• Ribbon headbands
• Jean waistband cuffs
• Jewelry with crescent moons and stars
• Tote bag with umbrella appliqués
• Something square
• Watermelon shaped oven mitts, maybe with matching accessories
• Cell phone sleeping bag
• Change purse key chains
• Monster plush key chains
• Strawberry pins and magnets
• Painted binder clips
• bottle cap pins
• zipper charms
• butterflies

One down, thirteen to go.

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Something Old, Something New

Here are some projects I recently finished.  A couple of them are classic, things a few of you may remember doing yourself, or at least something similar.  The others may be something you’ve thought about doing at one time or another, or maybe after seeing this you will want to try them.

These are classic fabric yo-yos, at least I think they’re classic.  My mom has been making them for years.  I used some fabric scraps I had and some old buttons, and I glued magnets to the back.  I also made two more with pin backs on them for pins.

 

These are painted bottle caps that I also made into magnets.  I’ve been on a magnet kick lately since I bought a package of discs at Wal-Mart.  I’ve made tons of these already.  I think people have been using bottle caps as craft supplies for a while now.  From scrapbooking to jewelry, they have a lot of uses.  I once actually made a necklace out of them as a Christmas  present for my older sister.  For that I didn’t paint them because I thought the logos on them were kind of cute, although ironic.  Neither she nor myself actually drink.

I got the idea for these painted thumbtacks in Wal-Mart while standing among all the office supplies.  They did have pretty and colorful thumbtacks, but I didn’t like any of them.  I thought I could do much better, so I did.  I made other ones in complementary colors. I’ve been into painting things since I found paint on sale.  What better inspiration than a good sale. :)

This is a chain belt I made with jump rings and key rings.  I happened to come across an assortment of key rings in a variety of sizes, but didn’t need all of them.  So rather than waste them I chained them.  The clasp is something I saved from an old hand-me-down dress from one of my sisters.  The dress was awful, but clasps were cool.  It wouldn’t the first time ugly clothing became useful for me.  I used to have this really odd bright orange bathrobe, can’t really say who gave it to me.  It was perfect to make stuffed animals out of, including a certain little orange cat that was quite popular awhile back.

Yep, it’s more painting.  Again, I thought I could make office supplies more fun so I thought, painted pencils would be good.  You may have noticed I have a thing for polka dots right now. What can I say, they’re super easy and super cute.  I’ve also made some with stripes and some that are sparkly.  A few of those are already up in my shop.  I don’t  think I’ll ever get tired of these, although I still would like to look for pencils that are more environmentally friendly.  At least these don’t use rainforest wood.

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