Duck Tape Notebooks with Pencil Holder

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Like thousands of kids across the counrty, my kids went back to school this week,  While they're excited to see their friends and start a new school year, it's a little tough to say goodbye to the fun days of summer.  To make the transition to schoolwork a little easier, we jazzed up our plain composition books and pencils with some fun Duck Tape designs. 

 

Check these out...

Aren't they fun?  There are so many fun Duck Tape patterns, my kids loved choosing designs to match their personalities ~ silly pickles and a funky zigzag for my daughter and sports for my son! 

Oh, and did you notice the handy little pencil holders on the sides of the notebook?  No more digging in their pencil cases when it's time to take notes, their pencil will be right there when they need it!

 

Here's what you'll need...

 

* Duck Tape in the colors and patterns of your choice (you can buy Duck Tape at Walmart )

* Composition books and some fresh new pencils

* plastic straws ( regular straws are a bit too small, so look for the bigger "milkshake" straws )

 

Here's what to do to make your own fun notebooks...

 

 

1.  This step is optional, but if you're using black marble composition books and a lighter color Duck Tape, I'd recommend covering your whole notebook cover with a layer of white Duck Tape to cover the black lines.

2. Cut strips of Duck Tape that will cover the front and back of your notebook with just a little bit of extra.  (My strips were 16" long and I needed 5 1/2 strips of tape).  I found it really handy to put the strips on my cutting mat then cut them with a craft knife, but scissors would also work fine.

3. Attach the strips of Duck Tape to the cover of your notebook, slightly overlapping each strip.

4. Wrap the extra tape around the front cover so there's no stickiness on the edges of your notebook.

 

 

5.  This step is also optional, but we cut two pieces of Duck Tape in a coordinating color and overlapped them to cover the spine of the notebook.  It looks fun and the contrast helps make it easier to spot the pencil and pencil holder.

6.  Next, cut your straw so it's slightly shorter than your pencil.  I cut ours to be about 5" long.

7.  Cut two pieces of Duck Tape about an inch longer than your straw (ours was 6") and overlap the two pieces to create a wide rectangle that will hold the straw in place.

8.  Position the straw at the top edge of the Duck Tape and attach it to the side of your notebook.  Pinch the bottom inch of the Duck Tape (where it was longer than the straw) to seal off the bottom of the holder so your pencil doesn't slide straight through!

9.  Cut a few small pieces of Duck Tape to decorate your pencil.  Ours were about 1" wide and the width of the roll of tape.

10.  Wrap the tape around the top of the pencil by the eraser so you have pencils that coordinate with your notebook.

 

That's it!  Your kids will always know which notebook is theirs and they'll always have a pencil handy when it's time to do some work!