mother’s day diy
I still enjoy a beautiful paper product and pretty writing utensils. I am sure this is also true for many women from older generations…our moms and grandmothers, can also appreciate these ‘old school’ items. Maybe pencils are a little nostalgic in this day and age, but I still think they make a nice gift; even if providing nothing else but a memory of a bygone era!
For this gift, I had white pencils imprinted and packaged them in a plastic tube for a practical and inexpensive gift idea. I used a beach theme and the imprints I ordered for the pencils related to my theme:
- life is a beach
- sand & sea
- message in a bottle
- sand under my feet
- sand dollars and seahorses
- gonna need a bigger boat (no, I didn’t really use this one)
In keeping with the beach theme, you could also use the name or names of your favorite beaches, names of songs related to the beach, or song lyrics (think Beach Boys), surfer lingo (hang ten, surf’s up), quotes, your mom’s favorite sayings (“it’s gonna freeze like that”, “kids day is every day”), etc. …you get the idea. The pencils I ordered had a maximum of 30 characters, so I planned accordingly. Maybe you already have some cool ideas for a Father’s Day set?
Ordering information for imprinted pencils is included at the end of this post.
I personalized a gift tag by putting a photo on one side and a favorite saying on the other. Then, I simply punched a hole in the corner to tie onto the gift.
Here is the finished gift…I tied on a piece of ribbon and raffia and attached the gift tag and a small sand dollar.
Ordering notes: I purchased the pencils at www.lillianvernon.com White pencils are item 800247 and a set of 12 is $9.99 (they were on sale for $5.98 when I purchased them). The same imprint is required on all twelve pencils, so you will need to order more sets if you want assorted sayings or quotes. If you are making more than one set, 24 pencils can be ordered for $14.99 on the same website as item 810260. Remember though, only one imprint per set. The plastic tubes came from www.thinkgarnish.com They are called ‘clear plastic tubes with caps’. (I have also used them for candy or straws.) They are priced at $1.60 each. Eight pencils fit nicely into a tube. Decide how many gift sets you want to make in advance so you can plan on the number of tubes and pencils and how many different imprints you will choose. I have already planned out some Christmas gift pencils that I will package without the tubes…more on that when I start my holiday projects. The gift tags I had personalized with my own beach photo (my favorite beach cottage…old black and whites of family beach trips work well also) and a favorite quote on the back. This is really easy to do online using www.cardstore.com Choose ‘stationery’ at the top of the site and then ‘personalized gift tags’. You can order 25 for $15. and incorporate your favorite photo. Put your imagination to work! Contact me if you have any questions or need ideas for a particular theme. Have fun with it! 
