Beaded Christmas Pens

I made 45 beaded pens this week as a little Christmas gift for the teachers at Nicholas school. Just a fun little something to put in their mailboxes to let them know the PTA is thinking of them.

I mixed a few Red Mirco Beads with the Clear to give them a pepperminty look.

Edited To Add: So sorry, I thought my now most of the world had made these so I did not include any directions.

This is how I make them.

1. I use RSVP pens by Pentel. I like these because you can unscrew the bottom and roll a piece of paper around the ink stem (what is it called?) and tuck it into the pen. You can use Designer Series Paper or any stamped lightweight paper. Stamping on copy paper works best as cardstock is hard to roll that tight. You can type the persons name on the computer paper, print it and cut and roll into the barrel. This pen needs a piece of paper for the inside that is about 3-1/8" x 1". If using clear Micro Beads, you can put them right on the pen now and the name will show up perfectly.

2. Applying Micro Beads. I use long strips of Sticky Strip. It takes about 4-5 strips (about 3-1/2" long) to cover the entire clear part of the pen. Lay the tape on and cut it. Don't try to cut it in advance, it never works that way. Pour the beads in a tray, peel the red backing from the Sticky Strip and roll in the Micro Beads pressing hard and rolling until completely covered. You can sprinkle in a few other color beads, like I did with the red or you can sprinkle in glitter for a sparkly look. If you are wanting it to be clear to see the words you've inserted in the barrel, don't put too much color in there.

3. For these pens, I did something a little different. I inserted plain white computer paper into the barrel. I printed the teachers names on clear return address labels . Placed the clear label on the outside of the pen, then covered with Sticky Strip and rolled in Micro Beads. I did that for times sake. It was a lot quicker to print the labels that to type, measure and cut all the names. I was in a hurry :)

4. This technique although beautiful and unique is not real durable. The beads will wear off with use of the pens and the tape turns kind of black with the oils on your hands. It takes a lot of use for this to happen but it most likely will happen before the pen runs out of ink. AND...don't leave them anywhere the sun hits or in a hot car. The tape gets hot and the beads slide off or clump together. A hard lesson learned with 250 pens for an outdoor wedding. :(

I hope this answers all your questions. If not you can send me an e-mail. I'm not the expert on this, I've just made thousands!!