DIY Back to School Gift – Teacher Pencil

When I saw this adorable wooden pencil at Target I had to grab it up, put a teacher’s name on it, and make a DIY Back to School Gift gift. Keep reading to see how easy this was to make.

I always loved school as a child. That’s why, when I decided to go to college, I wanted to get my degree in liberal arts. I had every intention of becoming a second-grade teacher but changed my major to public relations halfway through my college experience.

I love teachers. I love what they do in the lives of children and I owe several milestones in my own life to teachers who invested and believed in me. It’s no surprise that I love making teacher gifts and fun crafts.

I put a post on Facebook asking any of my teacher friends if they would like my craft projects and I had several people respond. I would rather make “real” crafts that I can gift to people than label with generic names and then have the craft collect dust on a shelf in my office.

Miss Kim takes care of Jedidiah at daycare and said that her mom was a teacher and that she would love a craft project. So I grabbed my adhesive vinyl and my $3 pencil from Target and I got to work.

Supplies Needed:

Silhouette CAMEO® 

Silhouette Cutting Mat

Silhouette Cutting Blade

Silhouette Studio

Design – Kinder Font

Permanent Adhesive Vinyl – Black

Transfer Tape

Scraper Tool

Wooden Pencil

Creating Your Design:

1. Open up your Silhouette Studio®.
2. Select the Page Setup Window and adjust your cutting mat size to 12×12 (or the sized mat you are using).
3. Download your font design from the Silhouette Design.
4. Measure your pencil to determine the size of your teacher’s name.
   
5. Use the TEXT tool to insert and type your teacher’s name. You will need to select the font from your library (the same way you would select a pre-made design).
6. Size your design to fit your pencil.
7. Attach your Adhesive Vinyl to the cutting mat, color side up, and load into your machine. I always trim my vinyl to slightly bigger than my design – that way I don’t waste or damage a whole sheet.
8. Follow the prompts in the Design Studio to adjust your blade (if using a ratchet blade) for Adhesive Vinyl and double check to make sure your design has been selected to cut.
9. Select “Send” to start cutting.
10. Select “Unload” when your machine has finished cutting your design to remove the cutting mat from the machine.

Preparing Your Design:

1. Remove your sheet of Vinyl from the cutting mat – go slow so it doesn’t curl up.
2. Weed the excess vinyl. Be sure to leave your design on the backing sheet.
3. Carefully remove the centers of the letters and graphics. The letters can be delicate, so take your time.

Creating Your Teacher Gift Pencil:

1. Place a piece of transfer tape over your design.
2. Use the scraping tool to make sure the design adheres to the transfer tape.
3. Gently pull transfer tape and make sure the entire design lifts with it.
4. Place your design on top of the pencil.
5. Use the scraping tool to smooth the design onto the pencil.
6. Slowly remove the transfer tape.

I love that this teacher pencil is decorative and functional – it is also a pen/pencil holder and I think it will be the perfect addition to Mrs. Eaton’s desk.