Friday, March 19, 2010

cute idea for the kids' playroom or an office

Here's a departure from my usual type posts.  Here's a cute and cheap idea you can use to decorate an office or playroom.  Oversized decor items are really popular and really expensive.  Here's an idea to make your own.  These "pencils" are made out of tall fence pickets.  They are about 6 feet high.  Some home improvement stores will give their imperfect ones away to you for free or for pennies as long as you promise they won't be used for your fence (I guess it's about lawsuits or something).  Simply saw one end off to a point and paint!  You or the kids can paint or stencil words or sayings on them too!  We used these to decorate the elementary school where I work.  We chose blue paint for the body, of course black for the lead, gold for the band by the eraser and pink for the eraser.  You could have several in different colors hung horizontally or vertically on a wall in a playroom or in a child's room.  You could paint them black and if you are really creative, make them look like black ball point pens for an office.  Too big?  Cut them in half, line them up next to each other and paint them like crayons or colored pencils. A smaller version maybe using a smaller piece of wood or a wooden ruler would make a great nameplate for your child's bedroom or playroom door.  You could even paint the body with chalkboard paint so you could change the message!  How cool! 


Paint it free hand so it's not perfect.  That makes it look like it's just been sharpened.
Here's the eraser end.
Bonus!  You can use popsicle sticks to do the same thing on a much smaller scale.  You can actually cut the tip into a point with sharp scissors.  Use these to label baskets, drawers, etc.  We used them at my elementary school to label teachers' mailboxes. 

11 comments:

  1. Great idea! I need to send that on to my parents who are doing a major playroom! Thanks.

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  2. how sweet are those?! GREAT idea!

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  3. What a great idea! I see a few of these in my little boy's near future. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. That's such a cute idea! I think your free hand work is fabulous!!!
    God's blessings,
    Sarah :D

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  5. How cute! I hope you'll drop by AtticMag to see Jane's Met Monday post.

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  6. oooh, I like! And I could do that!

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  7. Love this idea! Simply fantastic. Using the fence pickets is genius. Thanks for sharing. Hope you are enjoying your week! ~ Stephanie Lynn

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  8. What a fun idea... personalize it with a teacher's name and you've got a great teacher gift! ~kim

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