Mobile Craft Supply Box
Your kids love crafts, so why not create a supply box for traveling?
That’s right, a box of supplies that you can take with you and your kids can enjoy while you travel.
Gardener’s Pencil Holder
February 12th, 2013 posted by Amanda Formaro
Are you an avid gardener or perhaps you know one? This adorable craft, made from a recycled vegetable can, is perfect for the green thumb in your life. Makes a lovely addition to your gardening table, porch or patio, and makes a thoughtful gift.
What You Need
clean and dry vegetable can 15-18 mini craft sticks miniature straw hat white felt Liquitex Basics Gesso* acrylic paint: light blue, green, pink, purple, yellow, red and white hot glue gun small paintbrush large paintbrush cotton ball scissors acrylic sealer spray 
If you make this project
we’d love to see it! Just send your photos and comments to the editor and it may get published on our Facebook fan page !
What you do
Take a sheet of white felt and wrap it around the can to judge the size. Make note of any overage that wraps around and trim. You want to leave only a small amount of overlap. Set felt aside. Use the large paintbrush to paint the outside of the can with one coat of Gesso. Allow to dry. *Gesso is a craft medium that allows the paint to adhere better and will require less coats of paint. Gesso can be found in the art section of craft supply stores. If you don’t have Gesso, white acrylic paint can be used as an alternative. Lay the miniature craft sticks out flat on a piece of newspaper. Paint with white craft paint and let dry. Repeat for a second coat, however painting only one side is required as the back side will face the can and not be seen. Let dry completely. Paint the top half of the can with light blue paint and the bottom half with green. When can is dry dip a cotton ball into the white paint. Dab off the excess paint and pounce clouds onto the blue area of the can. Use the handle end of the smaller paintbrush to add flowers. Dip the handle into the pink paint and dot onto the can. Dot colors in clusters all around the can. Let dry completely. From a sheet of felt, cut two long strips about 1/2″ wide. Lay strips onto work surface, one above the other, and place white craft sticks on top to see what your fence will look like. Once you are happy with the placement of your pickets, glue them to the felt with hot glue gun. Construct entire fence, we will add it to the can in a later step. Use the handle end of the paintbrush to dot flowers onto some of the white pickets as if they were peeking through or growing up the fence. Use the small paintbrush to add grass blades to the bottom of the fence pickets. Let the paint dots on both the fence and the can dry completely before continuing to the next step. When can is completely dry, lay the can on its side and place the fence on to the bottom half. Once it is positioned where you want it, use hot glue to attach it to the can. Sgtand can upright and glue the miniature straw hat to the top of one of the pickets. Spray entire project with acrylic sealer spray. If you would like to make the Coffee Filter Daffodils that are pictured with this craft, click here for the instructions. 
Amanda Formaro is a freelance writer, editor, craft designer, and recipe developer. She loves multi-tasking and has been writing and working on the Internet since 1997. You can find her at AmandaFormaro.com. You’ll find her craft projects at CraftsbyAmanda.com and her recipes on AmandasCookin.com.
