Colored Pencil Pretty!

The second project I was inspired to make via Pinterest involved some colored pencil, a glue gun, some ribbon, and a glass vase.  Put them all together, and here is what you get. . .

Ignore my dollar store flowers!  I just threw them in for a look-see.

I purchased most of what I needed at the dollar store, so this was another frugal classroom idea.  I needed:

• 3 boxes of 18 count colored pencils  ($3)
• glass vase from the dollar store ($1)
• ribbon  I didn't have any that I thought were "it" so I purchased some.  ($3)
• Glue gun, which I had

Total project: $7  I think if you are a crafty person and have some ribbon around, you can get this down to a $4 project.  If  you also happen to have a glass vase around, you're down to $3.

As you gather your materials, make sure you have pencils that are as tall as your glass, or not.  The projects I saw all had the pencils come to the edge of the vase.  As you can see from the pictures below, mine does not.  I actually like it a little lower than at the lip of the vase.  Wouldn't the points have a better chance of being broken off if they reach all the way to the top?  I don't think it's really noticeable if they don't anyway.

How to:  Get your glue gun out, and run a bead of glue down the length of the pencil.  You want to be sure to put the glue on the part of the pencil that has any writing on it.  This way, the outside of the vase has no writing and is just a pretty rainbow of colors.  When I glued the pencil to the glass, I put the end of the pencil right on the table so that I knew it was all level and straight.  I also made sure a little bit of glue squished over to the pencil next to the one I was gluing. 

I ended up using about two and a half packages of colored pencils, but it all depends on the size of your vase.  To finish up, I put a ribbon around the whole thing.  How cute is this school ribbon?

Ignore my messy couch in the background!

 You could use this for flowers or anything else you can think of. I'm sticking with my dollar store flowers for another touch of color. Fill with fresh flowers and this would make a great gift for any teacher.  I've also seen it done with all yellow #2 pencils, crayons, and the short colored pencils.  They all looked pretty cool.

Now, I know this is not exactly a classroom necessity like the magnets I made, but it sure is a pretty decorative touch.  I was going to put this on my desk, but I have a sign-out area that I think needs some pretty.