School Days

This week's challenge at Our Creative Corner is to make something with a school theme. I knew right away what I wanted to do for the challenge - I loved the pencil holder that is on p. 93 of the catalog so I created my own. We don't go back to school here in Massachusetts for another month, but this little project got me in the mood a bit early!

First I covered a toilet paper tissue roll with a 4.5" x 5.5" panel of paper from the Play Date collection. (We use Costco toilet paper because it's one of the few [only?] brands that didn't shrink their rolls to 4" - so you should measure your roll before you cut your paper.) Tip of the day: I recommend using Mod Podge to adhere the paper for a smooth application. For the base I used retired chipboard and adhered the TP roll with the Tombow multipurpose glue. The catalog version wasn't decorated, but I thought adding some extra touches would be cute. On an olive grosgrain ribbon I tied a tag made using the First Day stamp set. I used the "first day of school" stamp and a Chocolate Chip marker to create my "school days" words - it's not perfect but for now it's close enough!

For the owls I used - what else? - the new owl punch. Now, if you're like me and when you first saw this punch you said, "I can live without that," trust me, you're wrong. These owls are so stinking cute. Plus I've been seeing all kinds of fabulous punch art with this punch so you're going to want to have it ASAP! My owls were made with more Play Date paper, plus Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake and white card stock. I just stuck them to the pencils with glue dots. Tip of the day #2: I used strips of my card stock and DP for punching - that way I don't waste a bunch while I'm punching out all these little bits and pieces.

Be sure you go check out all the rest of the school-themed projects by the OCC gals. I know they will all be fabulous!