Cupid's Arrow Pencils

by Jane Lake

Use an assortment of inexpensive supplies to make these "Cupid's Arrow" pencils, decorated especially for Valentine's Day.

Make just one, or create a bouquet of Cupid's Arrows pencils to arrange in a heart-shaped vase; either way, we are sure your Valentine will be love struck.

Cupid's Arrow Pencils - Craft Supplies:

• plain or Valentine theme pencils with erasers; to decorate plain pencils, you will also need items such as Valentine stickers, paper suitable for decoupage, or ribbons to wind around the pencils
• toothpick or wooden skewer
• colored feathers
• heart shapes - you can use wooden hearts; craft foam heart shapes; three-dimensional confetti hearts; or make your own heart shapes from card stock
• tacky craft glue or low-temperature hot glue gun and glue sticks
• optional: heart-shaped glass vase or other container, plus glass marbles or stones to add weight and balance to the vase

Cupid's Arrow Pencils - Decorating Instructions

The following suggestions can be used as is, or changed to suit the supplies that you have available or your own decorating ideas. If you're hosting a children's Valentine party, why not assemble the basic supplies and let the guests choose their own pencil decorations?

1. Decorate Plain Pencils:

-- You can wind pretty ribbon or yarn around the pencil, using dots of glue to secure it as you go along.

-- Mix thin white glue with a little water and decoupage the pencils with small pieces of colored tissue paper, magazine pictures, or wrapping paper. Remember that pencils are thin, so most pictures won't be fully seen; however, they can make a pretty modge podge of color all around the pencil.

-- Cover the pencil stem with small pieces of self-adhesive stickers, overlapping the pieces as you go. Tear large stickers into smaller pieces, or even use colored sticker paper taken from around the cut-outs on a sticker page; you will not see the individual stickers, only the colors, so small pieces of sticky paper work well for this purpose.

2. Add feathers to each pencil:

-- Use a sharp toothpick or wooden skewer to drill a small hole in the center of each eraser.

-- Dip the tip of each feather into tacky glue then push into the pre-drilled hole in the pencil eraser. One feather may be enough, but the feathers are light enough that you could, if you wish, use three feathers.

3. Add heart shapes:

-- To make a heart shape out of card stock, without a fold in the middle, first fold a piece of scrap paper in half, draw half a heart against the fold and cut it out to use as a pattern. Unfold and trace around the pattern on card stock; cut around the traced pattern to make your heart shape.

-- Decorate cardboard, craft foam or wooden heart shapes by gluing on Valentine confetti, small cupid stickers, sequins or lace.

-- Apply a line of tacky glue down the center back of the heart, then spread just a little more glue on the back of the top arches. Press the heart against the top of the pencil so that part of it sticks to the stem of the pencil and part of it sticks to the feathers. Let dry.

Tips:

-- Use a single cupid's pencil as a cupid's arrow to decorate a small heart-shaped wreath for Valentine's Day.

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