How to Make a Pencil Holder with Popsicle Sticks

How to Make a Pencil Holder with Popsicle Sticks

Popsicle sticks are useful for all sorts of things beyond holding an iced treat. They make an excellent pencil holder when neatly stacked together, as shown in this tutorial. When completed, you can paint it in any color you fancy, or decorate it with craft items.

Steps

Preparing the template

1. Place one of the popsicle sticks on a sheet of paper. Measure its length. In this case, the stick measured 11cm/4.3".
   
   
   
   
   
2. Construct an equilateral triangle based on the length of the popsicle stick.
   
   
   
   
   

Building the first triangle

1. Place one of the popsicle sticks over any one side of the constructed triangle.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Squirt a bit of glue on one end of the popsicle stick.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Place another popsicle stick over another side of the constructed triangle. Stick the two popsicle sticks together.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Squirt some glue over the other two ends of the popsicle sticks.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Take another popsicle stick and place it over the last/third side of the constructed triangle. Stick the popsicle sticks together.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Remove the sheet of paper. At this stage, you will have formed a popsicle triangle. From this sample, you will now build up the pencil holder.
   
   
   
   

Constructing the rest of the pencil holder

1. Repeat the above steps to add a second layer of popsicle sticks to the structure.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Continue the building process. Add more popsicle sticks until the tower has attained the average height of a pencil holder (you can decide how high to make it).
   
   
   
3. Allow the structure to dry.
   
   
   
   
   

Adding a base

1. Create a base for the pencil holder, to keep the pencils intact. Squirt some glue on any two sides of the constructed pencil holder. Glue popsicle sticks across one end, so as to make a base for the pencil holder.
   
   
   
2. Let the base dry. Once it dries, cut-off any extra pieces. As shown in the image, this can be made easier by ruling a line first, and following that when cutting.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Once it is cut, the base should look somewhat as shown in this image.
   
   
   
   
   

Finishing the holder

1. Decorate the pencil holder as desired. Throw on a bit of paint and be creative! Paint an interesting pattern, a favorite animal or your name, for example. You could also add decorative elements such as costume gems, plastic toys, buttons, etc.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Finished! Now you have a pencil holder made up of popsicle sticks.
   
   
   
   
   

Tips

• Be creative. Add designs, decorate it with a ribbon, or do anything else to improve the look of the structure.
• Give a pencil holder to your friends and loved ones, if you wish.

Warnings

• Don't use very strong adhesives. They dry very quickly and can make it hard to fix errors or realign the sticks in time.

Things You'll Need

• A sheet of paper
• Scissors
• Popsicle sticks
• Glue
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Paint
• Decorative items (optional)