Kids Crafts: How to Make a Paintbrush or Pencil Holder

If space is at a premium in your studio, or if you need to cut clutter by keeping supplies together (whether you're a mom, a daycare provider, or an art teacher), you've probably considered making your own canisters to hold things like paintbrushes, knitting needles, crochet hooks, or drawing and coloring supplies. If you try to reuse items to cut down on your carbon footprint or your recycling, you already know that recycling boxes and canisters is a great way to both de-clutter and upcycle.

Making canisters to hold your craft supplies is simple and fun, and while I embroidered the fabric for my canister, you can easily use trim, ribbons, or other trims to personalize your canisters. It's simple, cheap, and fun for everyone. In the end, you'll end up with something that will simplify your life (even if just a little bit).

Let's get started!

What you'll need:

Fabri-tac or other fabric glue
Felt
Fabric scraps or a fat quarter
Trims
Scissors
A can or canister

Directions:

1. Your first step (if necessary), if you're using a cardboard canister, is to cut it down to the size you want. Hold the items you're going to store in the canister outside the canister, and mark where you want the edge to be in about 2 or 3 places. Cut your canister down to size and trim any really rough edges. (This probably takes an adult because it's hard to close the scissors around thick cardboard.)

2. Now you'll want to cut the felt to fit your canister. If you want the edges to meet in the back of your canister, that's fine. If you want to overlap your edges by a half inch to an inch, that's fine, too. You'll also want to add about a half inch of felt above the lip of your canister so you can fold it in to create a nice, smooth edge.

3. Once your felt is cut, you'll want to cut fabric to match the felt. You're only going to be using fabric for the top part (which will be secured with glue inside), so you don't need a lot. I used a piece the width of my piece of felt and about 5 inches high.

4. Fold under the edge you're going to secure to the felt on the outside of your canister to create a smooth edge. Pin if necessary. Using a small amount of glue, glue the fabric to the felt.

5. Add trim with fabric glue (or, if you're going to embroider, wait until the glue is dry and go to it, but don't expect to use the needle again) to wherever you'd like. I added trim to both the line where the fabrics meet and the felt.

6. Once you're satisfied with your decoration, it's time to glue your felt to the canister, making sure to line up the bottom edge with the edge of your canister. Glue all the way around and finish the back edge however you like. Overlapping the fabric is easiest.

7. You should have a half an inch worth of felt at the top of your canister. Pay special attention when you go to fold your fabric in to make sure this is smoothed out and glued down.

8. Fold about an inch of fabric in on itself to make a clean edge, and apply glue to the inside of your canister (only to the areas where you're going to tack down fabric or felt)

9. Carefully fold in your fabric and smooth it out the best you can to make a nice, smooth side.

10. Let dry.

11. Add craft supplies.

That was pretty painless, wasn't it? If you want larger pictures and more details, check out the pictures here. If you're feeling up for another challenge, check out some of my other tutorials for some great ideas for sewing, quilting, custom tool roll-ups, and more!