Although those “back to school” posts are way behind us, today’s DIY pencil holders tutorial can be useful for everyone and any time. Never in my life have I bought containers for my pencils, I always used regular cups, glasses or empty packaging I already had in my house. Decorating them was a fun way to pass the time between studying sessions and even though I’m now done with school, the habit stuck. Recently I was cleaning out my painting supplies, throwing out dry gouache tubes, markers and brushes I can’t use anymore, so I thought it’d be nice to have a simple storage for all the rest. In my latest “paint-everything” fashion, I took empty Nescafe cans and spray painted them white. I really like how silver edges look on crisp white cylinders. Of course, you can let your imagination run wild and play around with different decorating techniques.

I’m using these to store pencils and brushes on my desk, but I’m planning to make few more for my make-up brushes and jewelry. They would look amazing in the kitchen too, painted with chalkboard paint so that you can use chalk to write what’s stored in them. This is so easy and you can have so much fun with them while spending nearly nothing! Why buy when you already have it?

PS. In need of a simple jewelry organizer? Check out my tutorial on how to make one out of egg carton! Find other DIY posts under the ‘DIY‘ tag!