DIY Back To School Supplies

By Aryanna LaMarco

In this article, you will learn how to re-design your school supplies to cheer up your school day and stay organized. Good luck!

DIY Colorful Notebooks

You will need:
A notebook
Patterned Paper

Washi Tape (optional)

Sharpie

Glue

Cut paper for notebook cover. There are two ways to do this part. You could either take your notebook and measure it, then measure the paper of your choice and cut it out, or you could just place the notebook on the back side of the paper, trace it, and cut it out.

Glue the paper onto the notebook cover. I recommend leaving an extra 2 inches on all of the sides so you can bend and glue it down on the inside cover.

Get creative and design. You can do a sideways frame around the notebook, a vertical stripe going down the side, zigzags, or washi tape going down each corner diagonally. Use your imagination. If you want to add more designs, you can get another piece of paper and cut it out (fancy or clean cut edges), and tape down to cover your notebook.

Label your notebook. Use your sharpie to write down the class the notebook is for, or you can just plain write it down with the sharpie, and frame it with washi tape. Also, you can get a paper nameplate and use glue to paste it on the front of the notebook to write the class it is for. Just get creative, and have fun.

DIY Erasers (3 ways)
First way:

You’ll Need:

Glass or plastic bowl
1 oz/30ml of water

1 oz/30ml of rubber

1oz/30mm of vinegar
Spoon

Combine the water and the rubber into the bowl with a spoon. Add the vinegar into the rubber and water mixture, and mix slowly and carefully. The ratio of water, rubber, vinegar should ALWAYS be 1:1:1. You can always add 1 teaspoon of sand, which will add a grainier texture to your eraser so it will work more efficiently.

After you are done, shape it into a regular rectangle, or a fun shape or animal. Fill another bowl with cold water and place your finished eraser in the cool water. When bubbles appear, pop them with your fingers. When no more bubbles appear, you can take the eraser out of the water.

Allow to air dry. Sit it on a counter or a windowsill. If you attempt to speed dry it any other way, you will ruin your eraser. The air-drying process may take up to several hours, once dry you may use it.

DIY Erasers (3 ways)
Second Way:

You’ll Need:

Eraser Clay

Knead the clay until it becomes readily moldable. To make kneading it easier just break off the piece big enough for the eraser you plan to create. The nice thing about eraser clay is that you can mix/knead colors together.

Shape your eraser. Now you can either use a mold or shape your eraser with your fingers. If you use a mold, you will need to spray that mold with some water, so that the clay does not stick. After this, read the clay’s instructions. It will need to be set with heat: either the microwave or oven. After it is set, it is ready to be used.

DIY Erasers (3 ways)
Third Way:
You’ll Need:

Melamine Foam
Scissors

Trim the melamine foam into proper eraser size. You may also use an Exacto knife instead.

Rinse it under lukewarm water to wet and loosen the melamine foam. This is not a pencil eraser. This eraser erases crayons, colored pencils, scuff marks, and more. Just wet it whenever you need to use it.

Jewelry Holder/Catchall

You’ll Need:

A singular cupcake plate

Washi Tape

Exacto Knife

Decorate your catchall with washi tape. Place different colors and patterns of washi tape onto the cupcake plate, and use the Exacto knife to cut off the extra tape.

This little room decor is perfect for when you just get home from school and need somewhere to throw your rings and keys and take a nap. Trust me; you deserve that nap.

Patterned Binders:

You’ll Need:

A binder
Patterned Paper

Cut paper to size. Take a piece of patterned paper and cut it to fit the flap on the cover.

Decorate paper. Tape whatever you would like onto the paper, such as magazine cutouts, printed words on that subject, etc.

Simply slip it into the cover of the binder, and you are done!

Patterned Pencils:

You’ll Need:

Pencils

Washi Tape

Wrap the washi tape around the pencil and make patterns with the tape. Use different colors and patterns!

Love Emoji BackPack:

You’ll Need:

Yellow, red, and black felt cloth

A white backpack

A hot glue gun

Fold the piece of yellow felt in half and cut out a half circle. When you unfold it after it should be a circle. Do the same thing with the black felt, but make the circle much smaller and cut it in half. Glue that to the bottom half of the circle. This will be the mouth of the love emoji. Take the red felt and cut out two hearts for the eyes. Glue those slanted a little to look more like the emoji. Let it dry, and then glue it on the backpack. Once it’s dry it’s ready to use!

Get creative with back to school DIY! Decorate your school supplies to add some personality to everything.

Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/denisemattox/