Upcycling Paper Cores into Pencil Storage

Hello everyone, this is Patti sharing with you today.
I love when I make something that actually stays in my crafty space. I love it even more when it serves a dual purpose: functionality and just plain prettiness.  It’s so nice to add to your happy space.

My niece works for a grocery chain and each day they use 4 – 5 rolls of shrink wrap on their pallets.  She noticed one day that the centers of the wrap were large heavy weight cores and of course deduced in a hurry that we might be able to utilize these in our crafty endeavors.  Well, certainly!  My nephew, bless his heart, cut five of the cores to my specs and then angled the fronts to a small slope.  The idea was to use these for my pens, pencils or markers as you see above.  The slope allows me to reach in and remove whichever color I might need.  They also fit just perfectly inside one of the cubes alongside my work table.  A big win-win!

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I started with the cut cores (cardboard centers). Using the nail file, I smoothed the edges removing any of the shards left from trimming. I was debating on using both the Ivory and Scarlet Decor & DIY paint but opted for only this gorgeous red – Scarlet. Even the name sounds devilish, don’t you think? My craft room is red and white so it was a perfect choice.

Next, I primed the outer edges of the tubes with Liquitex Gesso. With the Decor and DIY paint you really don’t need a primer, it’s also self leveling so if you have dips and grooves it smoothes them out along the way. Because the cores were heavy cardboard, I just wasn’t sure how much they would soak up the paint. Originally, I had contemplated lining the insides with paper as well as the out – that’s why I only primed the outer rims where I thought I was painting the Scarlet.

Once I had the outer rims painted I realized I had to do the inside as well; by this point I realized how beautifully the paint was covering so I skipped the Gesso on the inside. I did the 5 cores and used barely 1/4 of the jar! Amazing stuff, I highly recommend it. Another great aspect of this paint is that it cleans up in a snap with soap and water and comes in 17 colors.

I hunted through my stash of Black and Cream or White Canvas Corp papers to find ones to cover the cores. I used Aleene’s Tacky glue to put paper to core. I liked the tacky glue because it gave me time to slip the paper around here and there until I got it lined up to my liking.

When done, I used some green Frog tape (painters tape) and lined off all but a small rim on the end of each core. Using the Scarlet paint I painted a red rim around each end, removing the tape when finished. I thought it gave each core a nice finished look. Using leftover scraps of the paper, some tulle and some red inks I die-cut flowers and assembled them to use as embellishments on my storage unit. I added a little bling and some tulle to finish them off.

The last thing I wanted to share was the Origins Mixed Media paper. Oh my goodness, do I love this paper! If you haven’t used it then I’d say it’s a must on your next shopping trip through the Canvas Corp store. It’s like a cross between paper and fabric. I used Ken Oliver’s Color Bursts along with water pens to color my heart and song bird. I punched out the laces that had been imprinted on the paper and laced them with Sisal twine from the store. You’ll see how cool it looks in the finished project in the photos. The last thing I did was paint the back side with TCW black gesso. This not only strengthened the back but gave it a completed finished look if flipped over. I lightly tipped the edges all around the front with the black gesso as well. So let’s get onto the finished project.

The storage holder is built out of 5 cylinders, each measuring approximately 10″ across the bottom and 11″ tall. I used Beacons 3 in 1 adhesive to glue each cylinder (core) to the one below. You must allow time for the glue to completely set and then it’s almost indestructible.
This unit sits perfectly in one of my cubbies to the left of my work surface and will give me lots of pleasure and smiles and I look at it each day.

When you follow along on the video tutorial, you’ll see I’ve used an abundance of things from the Canvas Corp store.  The little ‘Things Happen’ sign is from the Architextures packaging – I love all these words you can combine and use.  The flowers fill in the spaces where the cores come together.

I made the flowers in various sizes depending on where I was going to house them. Granted this is an over the top storage solution but for me it’s perfect; it gives my crafty space a touch of pizazz and a perfect house to hold a multitude of my inking instruments.

Directly below the video, I’ll have a list of supplies I’ve used from the Canvas Corp stores and links to both the store’s and my own social media sites.

Thanks so much for spending your time with me.  Don’t forget to have fun crafting, it’s the greatest medicine for your soul.

Supplies from the Canvas Corp Stores –
Canvas Home Basics – Cord – Sisal Rope; Papers –  Black and Ivory Plaid;  Black and Ivory French Linen Stripe; Black and Ivory Sonnet; Bikes and Baskets; Garden Words on Ivory; Black and Ivory Zig Zag; Ivory and Black Spoons
Tattered Angels –  Decor and DIY paint – Scarlet
7 Gypsies –  Mixed Media Origins Collection – Flight; Architextures Packaging

Follow Canvas Corp Brands Store, Blog and Facebook Collective Group (this is a group you must request to join, but boy is it worth it!!!)
Canvas Home Basics at Facebook and Instagram.
7gypsies at Facebook and Instagram.
Tattered Angels on Facebook and Instagram.

Visit me at A Soul’s Heartbeat on Blogger, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.

– Patti –

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