Monday Made-It: Pencil Dispenser

My straw dispenser FINALLY arrived this week!!   Wahoo!!  I'm linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for this Monday Made-It!

Here's is the story of my new pencil dispenser.


 When I saw this pin on pinterest...

I knew I needed a pencil (straw) dispenser for my classroom.  Initially, I looked for metal ones (like in the picture above) but they were $80 or more!!!  A bit pricey for me!  So...I began looking at the acrylic ones.

 

When I first noticed these, they were $17 on Amazon.  By the time I went back and placed my order it was $28.  Now, they are around $40!  I think this would be a great example of supply and demand for a future lesson!  If you spend time searching Amazon and/or Ebay you may be able to find a cheap one.  If you do, place your order immediately! :)

I wasn't really happy about the acrylic because you could see through it.  Who wants to look at pencils all day? :(  But then, Amy from the Resource(ful) Room let me know that she bought an acrylic one and mod podged paper inside of it!  This is Amy's pencil dispenser (click the picture to go to her post):

Brilliant!  I eagerly awaited the arrival of my straw dispenser so I could try to work my magic.  It took a LONG time for it to arrive!  I even got an email from Amazon stating that it had not been shipped by the third-party seller and I might want to contact them.  Well, I didn't have time, so I just kept waiting and FINALLY (5 weeks later) it came!!  Just. In. Time.

Now, you know, Mod Podge and I have been working on our relationship this summer, but we're still not besties.  I was a little worried about the bubbles, especially since working from the inside of this dispenser would be a tight fit.  I chose my FAVORITE scrapbook paper and very informally (holding it up to the sides, folding, and cutting) measured it to fit the odd shape of my dispenser.  It took two pieces of scrapbook paper (cut into 4 pieces in all - one each for the top, back, front, and bottom) in all.  I decided to use the Elmer's Spray Adhesive that I had instead of Mod Podge (I'm sure that didn't help our relationship at all).  I simply sprayed each page with adhesive and carefully (that stuff is pretty sticky) positioned it into place.  Voila!  Instantly finished...no waiting to dry...no air bubbles magically appearing.  DONE in 10 minutes tops!  Then, I used my new Cameo to cut out letters with vinyl and applied them to the front!  (I still didn't have any transfer paper at this point, so I drew a straight line on the acrylic with a dry erase marker to position the letters and then erased it.)

 I HEART this thing!!  And, it works perfectly EVERY TIME.  Turn the knob and a pencil falls down.  LOVE.  The acrylic is very durable and it's MUCH cuter than the original metal one that I wanted.  Sometimes things don't work out for a {good} reason.  :)