Friday 29 June 2012

Tutorial - Vintage Book Pen Pot

I've used various ways of storing my pens over the years, and lately they've been haphazardly thrown together in a jar and a square cardboard pot, which took up a lot of space on my desk and made it quite hard to find the pen I was looking for:


But now they are neatly organised in this much more becoming Vintage Book Pen Pot:


In case you'd like one too, here's how to make it:

What you need:


  • Vintage Ladybird Book
  • Piece of Chipboard
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Co-ordinating Acrylic Paint
  • Craft Knife
  • Cutting Mat, Steel Ruler, Paintbrush, Pencil and Eraser (not pictured)
Step 1: Cut the covers off the book using a craft knife and a steel ruler (be careful!):



Step 2: Cut one piece of chipboard to 2" x 6¾", and four small pieces of chipboard to 2" x 3¾" :


Step 3: Paint the chipboard pieces:


Step 4: Lay a book cover down on a heat proof mat, with the endpapers facing up. Run a line of hot glue along the long bottom edge, and press the longer piece of chipboard into it, holding it for a few seconds while it sets:


Step 5: Run a line of hot glue along one edge of the yellow base, and going up 3¾" of the edge of the book cover too. Stick one of the smaller pieces of chipboard to it while it's still hot (you'll need to move quickly), and again hold for a few seconds while it sets:


Steps 6, 7, and 8: Repeat with the remaining small chipboard pieces, spacing them out a little:




Step 9: Lay the other book cover down with the endpapers facing up, and mark where the hot glue needs to go:


Step 10: Run hot glue along the lines, very quickly, and press the chipboard pieces on the other cover down onto the glue. If you're worried you can't do it quick enough (before the glue cools) then you could use a slower drying super-glue.

Then fill your pen pot up! I have pencils, biros, and tools on the left, coloured pens in the middle, and black pens on the right. It makes it so much easier to see which pen I need straight away and because the pen pot is narrower than the usual round-style pot, it means it takes up less space on my desk - hooray!



I hope you've enjoyed the tutorial! If you'd like to make one of your own, then here's a giveaway to get you started! Let me know in the comments below if you'd like to be in the draw to win this:


A Vintage Ladybird Book and some chipboard!

I'm sorry I can't give you all the other things neccesary to make it, hopefully the winner will have some suitable bits already!

This giveaway is open internationally, and will close at 11.59pm (BST) Monday 2nd July. The winner will be announced on Thursday 5th July. Please make sure that you tell me how to contact you if you win, if you're not easily reached via a google account.

Don't forget that a comment on this post, or on any of my posts from this weekend, will count as an entry into the Grand Giveaway {NOW CLOSED}- but only if you've registered your interest in winning that here!

Thanks for reading, see you in an hour! x 

29 comments:

Nathalie said...

This turned out to be a very cute project! I probably have a book to make it too! TFS!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge said...

What a great idea!

Bethany

Jimjams said...

Neat idea - I have a pen pot made out of coasters - it doesn't hold as much but it is decorated in beautiful turquoise and gold decopatch papers!

Julie Baswell said...

Right now all my pens and pencils are stored in a baby wipe container. I have to dig to find the right one. This would be perfect for me.

Maria Ontiveros said...

I found a couple of containers at a Japanese specialty store which fit pens perfectly. I have them sorted by time (brush markers in one; basic markers in a second; and black pens for drawing/journaling in a third).
Rinda

Patricia said...

Very unique project! I like how it turned out!

hueisei said...

Thanks for the tutorial! ^^

Lou said...

what a super idea jennifer!

Susan said...

Wow, this is such a great idea. I love the way it looks when finished.

Caroline Hackney said...

Thanks for sharing your project! I recently recycled a "vintage" box for all my old Beatrix Potter books - the books are more vintage but I used BP stickers on the box so it matched. Seems like we were on the same wavelength!

Daphne said...

Cute! I saw it on a picture on your blog earlier and wondered where you got it from! xxx

Kirsty.A said...

Great idea. Like it

Annie Claxton said...

Genius! Can't wait to have a go at this and I reckon I could do cool blokey ones for my sons too - not that it would make them tidy! Yes please, I would love to have a chance to win the goodies. Annie :)

Carin McDonough said...

What a fantastic idea, I would never have thought of using an old book! I have a tray that holds three square plant pots that I use for all my pens and scissors and that works great :)

Lea Lacoste said...

love love this DIY!!

Emily Mae said...

I love this! It seems easy and looks so cute!

scrappyjacky said...

Great idea....and love the use of the old Ladybird book....I used to love them.

Susanne said...

Great tutorial for a really cool project. My daughter could use one of those for her desk. In my studio I need to keep pens/markers in mugs and glass jars - mostly on a lazy susan - but that's because I have so very many.

dogmatix said...

That is such a good idea :) Mine are currently in mugs and a Doctor Who cereal bowl! You can stick me in the draw for this one...thanks ;)

Diane Standish(crazeedi) said...

what a great idea for storing pens! I am definitely going to try this!

Ana Laura De Romero said...

Oh! this turns into something really beautiful and usefull.. Thanks a lot for share this tutorial, this is something I really like to try

sra_de_romero(at)yahoo.com.mx

Sally said...

That's so cute, thanks for sharing x

Margie said...

This is adorable! TFS!

Unknown said...

Wonderful tutorial...it's got my creative juices going!

Anonymous said...

Great idea - thanks for the tute :)

Yolanda said...

what a super idea, off to raid the kids book shelves :)

Lisa-Jane said...

That's a great idea! I have far too many pen pots etc but this is cute.

Annie Claxton said...

Hi Jennifer, I just got my parcel today - thank you SO much, I'm thrilled to bits with it!!! The little book is really cute and it was so kind of you to put all that extra gorgeousness in - I had to take a picture of it for my blog :) I'll let you know how I get on with the pencil pot. Annie x

Khalid Dori said...

Great idea....and love the use of the old Ladybird book....I used to love them.

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