Last minute gift crafting: decoupaged pens

A family member had writing utensils on their Christmas list. My Christmas shopping is finished, and all we have in stock at home are promotional giveaway pens and beat-up pencils.

But I had an idea:  take some pretty paper, and cover some not-pretty pens with it. I had some green marbled paper from my first try at shaving cream marbling. I also had decoupage medium on hand (although clear acrylic varnish or even white glue would work).

So I cut strips of the paper, painted the back sides of them with the glue, wrapped them around the pens like cylindrical wallpaper, smoothed them out, and then painted the outside surface of the paper, as a sealer.

After doing a few pens, I also grabbed an old pencil, sawed off the used-up eraser, and covered it in the same paper.

They came out well, although not perfect, as I was in a hurry, and damp paper tends to wrinkle.

I used to do this with pens and pencils for my own home, but at some point I got busy and forgot about it. I'm going to start it up again, though, instead of just living with ugly pens.

Preparing for Christmas

I am enjoying this Christmas season a little differently this year. Having a new baby, I am taking things much more slowly and simply.

My Christmas shopping is mostly done, and mostly will be done at the thrift store and the grocery store--but not during the baby's third-week and sixth-week growth spurts.

Our Christmas decorations are exactly the same as in past years (follow Christmas tag on the sidebar to see posts with pictures), except that I haven't made any paper snowflakes.

I've been taking a moment here and there to stop and enjoy the Christmas lights in our house and neighborhood.

I did one fairly quick papercraft:  shaving cream marbling on some index cards.  How:  make a pile of shaving cream, stir in paint until partially mixed, flatten the surface of the cream, and press the card down onto it. Then carefully lift the card, scrape off the excess shaving cream, and set the card aside to dry.  I used bronze acrylic artists' paint, Golden brand, which had the unexpected effect of leaving a verdigris color where the paint was thinnest.

Christmas baking will happen next week. I usually make caramel popcorn, and will attempt to make a batch of cookies from an old family recipe (full batch:  10 dozen cookies). My husband usually makes some kind of a sugar cookie for the kids to decorate.