Magnetic Pencil Pockets as a Back to School Craft

Here in our area the stores are now full of all those Moms and kids scrambling to get their school supplies ready for the next school year.  (Since we’ve decided to homeschool this year, we’re lucky enough not to be part of the back to school pandemonium.)  All those back to school supplies can cost a fortune, so here are some back to school recycling crafts that might help take some of the edge off!

Pencil Pockets - These are a really cute idea and great for a locker… trendy, inexpensive, and cool.  My oldest thinks we should make some of these for her bulletin board in her room, so we’ll add some sort of ribbon or cord to hand the pockets from a push pin.  I’m all for anything that gets her a little more organized!

Cargo Pant Book Covers - When I was a kid, we always made our book covers out of brown paper bags using this same basic technique.  This craft idea cuts out a pocket from an old pair of cargo pants and glues it to the paper cover… I don’t see why you couldn’t make the entire cover with the fabric of the pants (along with a well placed pocket).  I’ve see people do this idea with a pair of old jeans, so it should work.  You can really cover your books with just about anything… just add imagination!

Custom 3-Ring Binders - Most kids have three ring binders on their school supply list each year… and they can be pretty expensive.  Here’s a cost-cutting idea… purchase one of those inexpensive binders from the office supply store, grab your glue gun, and create your own custom binder.  You can also purchase one of those binders with the clear-vue inserts and insert a custom photo page on each side.

Backpack Tags - Another really inexpensive and cute idea for back to school.  Use shrinky dinks to create your own personalized backpack tags.  In case you don’t know what shrinky dinks are… they are the plastic material that you color, cut out, and shrink in the oven.  We love this stuff!  It’s very versatile and you can create a lot of neat things with it.

We’ll continue to add more back to school crafts over the next couple of weeks, so if you have an idea that you think I should include, let me know!