Beaded BIC Pen Craft

Make something super-slick out of a plain old BIC.

Submitted by
Traci

Your kid is far too fabulous to use a regular old ballpoint pen. Have her craft her very own bead-encrusted pen with a BIC, some sticky adhesive and tiny beads. It may not help her ace that geography test, but she'll feel much more glamorous sitting for it.

1.5 mm beads in your kid's favorite colors
Look for seed beads or Microbeads at the crafts store.
Wrapping paper
Double-sided industrial-strength tape sheets:
Like sheets of Red Liner tape or Terrifically Tacky Adhesive Sheets. You need to use industrial-strength tape or the beads won't hold, so don't go reaching for the double-sided Scotch tape.
Ballpoint pen:
A BIC or Pentel RSVP will work nicely.
Scissors
Cookie sheet
Hair dryer:
Once used on your tresses, your blow dryer has now been delegated to your kid's crafts. Sigh.
A piece of scrap paper
Embellishments:
Ribbons, larger beads in complementary colors, small charms, feathers, silk cord, etc.

Have your kid pour the beads onto a cookie sheet. Tell her to resist the urge to play with them. The oil from her fingers will make them less stickable (is that a word?).
Wrap the scrap paper around the pen and trim to fit. It should be exactly as tall as the pen and fit snuggly around so that the edges meet but don't overlap. This will be your template for the tape sheets and wrapping paper.
Have your kid lay the cut-to-size scrap paper down on a tape sheet and trim the tape to fit. Cut a second piece the same size.
Next have her cut a piece of wrapping paper the same size as the printer paper. You'll now have two pieces of tape and one piece of wrapping paper all the same size.
Help your kid peel the backing off of one side of one of the adhesive sheets and carefully wrap it around the pen.
Have her remove the other backing from the adhesive sheet on the pen.
Help your kid carefully layer the piece of wrapping paper over the top of the adhesive so it sticks.
Then have her peel one backing off of the second adhesive sheet and stick it on top of the wrapping paper. At this point the layers should go pen, adhesive paper, wrapping paper, adhesive paper.
Remove the second backing and blow dry it for a few seconds (not too long!) to make the adhesive nice and sticky.
Here's the fun part: Have your kid roll the pen in the beads, covering the entire surface in the glittery little buggers.
After she's rolled the pen in the beads, have her roll it again on a hard surface, to help the beads adhere. Repeat the process, if there are "bald spots" on the pen.
When she's finished beading it up, get your kid to dress up the top of her pen. Have her tie ribbon or cord around the top and tie beads, feathers or charms to the end of it for a little flair.
If she's feeling inspired, get her to make a few more fancy pens. Who knows? Maybe they'll inspire her to do her homework (or at least dot her I's with little hearts).