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Who doesn’t love The Lorax by Dr. Seuss? These adorable pencil toppers, inspired by Truffula Trees, are great for taking notes in style or brightening up your desk with fun pops of color.

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To make your tree trunk, wrap your pencil in colored washi tape. We wanted to make our trunks yellow and black, so we started with yellow as our base. 

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Then wrap your next color around the pencil as well. We wrapped black tape around the tree trunk, this time spacing the tape out to create yellow and black stripes.

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Now take your styrofoam ball and apply tacky glue to one half of the ball. Hold the ball by the side without glue and wrap the boa around the ball, over the glue. Cut the any excess boa, and do the same for the other side of the ball. This will make your tree top!

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Take your pencil and push the pointed end into the styrofoam ball. Remove the pencil, flip it around, and then insert the eraser end into the styrofoam ball to attach the topper. If you want to keep the topper secure, add some glue to the eraser before inserting it into the ball. If you like, create more pencil topper trees! We created a bunch and loved how all the colors looked together.

pencils

tacky glue

feather boa

washi tape (multiple colors)

small styrofoam balls

Fluffy Tree Pencil Toppers

books

art project

painting

household craft

Try some simple stamping techniques using yarn, bubble wrap, or other materials from home. Then dress up your textbooks with custom patterns that will stand out from the crowd.

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Start by covering your textbook! If you already know how to do this, skip to step 5. Start by cutting a piece of paper that is is an extra 2" larger than your book cover. Keep in mind that you need to include the thickness of the book!

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Wrap the side edge of the book by tucking in the extra paper. Make sure the book can close once the paper is tucked into the front and back covers.

When you wrap your book, push your book down, so the spine touches the kraft paper.

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There should be about 1-2" of excess paper on top and bottom of the book. Cut  2 slots that match the folded crease along the binding. Cut out the small tab. Tuck in the top and bottom edge of paper and use tape to secure it. (Make sure you don't tape onto the actual book!). Do the same for the other cover.

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To create your stamps, cut out some cardboard pieces. These will be the bases of your stamps. Use yarn or thick string and wrap the cardboard piece to create a striped pattern. Use tape to secure the yarn on the backside of your cardboard stamp.

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Use a paintbrush to carefully apply some paint onto your stamp. Test out your stamp on a scrap piece of paper before you stamp onto the book cover.

Cover your workspace since paint can get a little messy!

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Cover your text book in any pattern you want! We decided to try a gradient by mixing in more blue each time we stamped.

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Look around the house for other stamping materials! Bubble wrap creates a fun polka dot texture.

cardboard

paper bag / wrapping paper

string

Tape

acrylic paint

paintbrushes

Hand-Stamped Book Covers

sustainable crafts

reused craft materials

Do you have a ton of pink erasers scattered around the house or filling up your junk drawer? Give them a new purpose and make your own stamps!

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Draw a design on an eraser with a pencil. For designs with words, make sure to write the letters backwards and starting from the right side of the eraser. For asymmetrical designs, flip them vertically so that they appear correctly when stamped.

It helps to shade in the areas you want to carve out and not see on the stamp.

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Using your carving tool, carefully carve out the shaded areas. 

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Blot your eraser stamp into the ink pad. 

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Press your stamp onto a piece of cardstock - and voila! You made a stamp! 

eraser

pencil

carving tool

ink pad

cardstock

Eraser Stamps

indoor project

science experiment

science project

STEM

magic tricks

physics

quick experiment

easy experiment

3 material crafts

Wow your friends with this surprising “leak-proof” bag trick!

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Fill the plastic bag halfway with water. 

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Use one hand and hold the plastic bag at the top for stability.

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Use a pencil to quickly pierce the bag and water! What's going on? Most plastic bags are made of polyethylene, a polymer that is durable, flexible, and shaped like long strands.  When the pencil is quickly pierced into the bag of water, the polyethylene molecules separate but don't break, forming a seal around the pencil. If the pencil is pierced into the bag before the water is put in, the water will leak!  Try the experiment with a faceted pencil, a larger pencil, or a thicker plastic bag. What happens?

plastic zip bag

round pencils (with sharp tips!)

water

Pencil Trick

handmade

origami

back to school

Use origami paper folding techniques to turn a piece of paper into a bookmark. Then decorate it with cutouts and save your reading spot in style.

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Gather your materials.&nbsp;

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With the back side of the origami paper facing up, fold the paper in half along the diagonal to form a triangle.

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Fold up the corners of the long end of the triangle so that they meet the middle corner of the triangle. This should form a square.

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Unfold the folds you just made. You should have a triangle again.

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Take the top flap of the top-middle corner and fold it down so that it meets the long edge of the triangle. The edges of the folded-down flap should line up with the fold lines from step 4.

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One corner at a time, fold up the corners of the long end of the triangle (the same ones from step 4, along the same fold line), and then tuck them into the space behind the flap formed in step 5. Fold along the folded edge of the flap to secure. Your origami bookmark is constructed!

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Decorate your bookmark!&nbsp;Add wiggly eyes for a fun touch. We made ours into a monster!

Make sure not to glue the pocket closed!

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To use your bookmark, slide your page into the pocket in your bookmark to mark your place.

Origami is the art of paper folding, which originated in Japan almost 1500 years ago. In Japanese, “ori” means “to fold”, and “kami” means “paper”. Today, people all over the globe practice origami and create their own patterns that turn 2D paper into 3D masterpieces. NASA engineers have even used origami techniques to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly3hMBD4h5E" style="text-align: center;">design self-assembling spacecraft</a>!

For more origami projects, try folding up a<a href="https://www.kiwico.com/diy/art-creativity/jewelry-fashion-design/origami-paper-bracelet" style="text-align: center;"> paper bracelet</a>, a <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/diy/holiday-events/chinese-new-year/origami-fortune-cookie" style="text-align: center;">fortune cookie</a>, or even a <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/diy/stem/toy-game-design/origami-fidget-spinner" style="text-align: center;">fidget spinner</a>!

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Wiggle Eye Set

Square Origami Paper

Scissors

Glue Stick

Origami Corner Bookmarks

Make a colorful caterpillar using toilet paper rolls! Use it to store all of your pens, pencils, and back-to-school supplies!

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Cut and cover each toilet paper roll with a different color of construction paper.

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Trace the bottom of one of the rolls onto one of the pieces of construction paper five times (one for each of the tubes.) Cut them out. These circles will become the bottom of each holder.

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Line up the holders in order of size.

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Glue them together to make the caterpillar. Add fun eyes and a little reading book!

Construction Paper

toilet paper rolls (4 to 5) - cut into different lengths

marker

Glue

Caterpillar Pencil Holder

Father's Day

Father's Day gifts

gift

This is such a fun and creative gift for your child to make for someone special!

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First, hunt for and find the perfect rock. A flat, oval shaped rock works best but, because it's a gift, let your child choose and make it their own.

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From my experience, painting the rock on a paper plate saves time and mess. The rock has to stay on the plate while you paint it and makes it easy to move to a drying spot.

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Let your child pick the paint colors and paint the rock. She picked blue and red and then quickly discovered that they made purple. The end product was a little dark. I'd recommend a light color like orange, yellow, or white.

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Use the permanent marker to write "My Dad Rocks" or "My Grandma Rocks" or the name of whoever you are making your paperweight for. We added a little glitter to ours. Get creative and add glitter, puff paint, or stickers. Wrap up your gift! Your special someone is sure to love this paperweight—made with love.

rock

paint & paint brush

permanent marker

"My Dad Rocks" Paperweight

food science

food experiments

chemistry

Plastic from milk? Sounds crazy, but it's true! Before modern plastic was invented, this type of plastic was used to make things like buttons, beads, and pens. Give this experiment a try and you'll discover some amazing secrets hiding in a glass of milk. Create a plastic material to tag or personalize your belongings! 

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To start out, microwave 1 cup of milk for two minutes. 

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Add 4 tsp of white vinegar and mix for one minute. The mixture will be a little clumpy.

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Use a strainer to separate the clumps from the liquid. The liquid can be discarded.

To get more plastic out of the milk, use a coffee filter to strain out the clumps from the liquid.

What's going on?&nbsp;
Protein in the milk does not mix well with the acidity of the vinegar. Therefore, it clumps up!

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 Put 1-2 drops of food coloring in a small bowl. 

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Move the clumps into one of the bowls and mix it with food coloring. If you like, you can also add some sequins or beads! 

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Place the mixture on a paper towel. Knead the mixture to get rid of excess water!

Panda Crate

Sprout: Koala Crate

Labs: Kiwi Crate

World: Atlas Crate

Studio: Doodle Crate

Labs: Tinker Crate

Studio: Maker Crate

Labs: Eureka Crate

17 fun school supplies projects for kids

Screen-free fun!