Duct Tape Pens

I found some darling polka dot duct tape on clearance at Target so I couldn't resist purchasing it.   I am in charge of Teacher Appreciation Week at school so I decided to come up with a gift for our nearly 75 teachers that involved duct tape.  So one evening it just came to me to try decorating pens with it.  I loved the results!  So I bought a multi-pack of inexpensive PaperMate pens from Costco to go along with my duct tape project dreams.

I shopped at around at Target, Walmart, etc. and found some other fun duct tape designs and colors to use.

I took a piece of duct tape and measured it to be the length of the pen (down to the part where the pen starts to narrow).  Then I just wrapped the duct tape around the pen, making sure there weren't creases or bubbles.

After wrapping the pens, I used my hot glue gun to add a pom pom to the end of the pen.  I tied a few pieces of ribbon to add color to the pen as well, tied with a double knot.

I am a ribbon hoarder so I had lots of ribbons to choose from (this is just a small amount of my choices).  I buy my ribbon for a great price at Fabric Barn in Long Beach.  It is a dumpy looking store in a bad part of town but OH BOY do they have great ribbon.  They also have Yarn Barn and Party Barn stores right there.

Since these pens are for Teacher Appreciation week next month, I printed out a fun little card to attach to each pen.  Super cheesy, I know but teachers appreciate bad puns and creativity.  I used some of the graphics from Stampin' Up's "My Digital Studio" to design my tag and then printed them on cardstock at school.

So here's a sampling of pens.  I have to make 130 of them (75 for teachers and then more for the aids and other school staff) and we have around 30 done so far.  I think I'll have to put on a good Lifetime movie (my secret indulgence) and start cranking out some more pens...