What can be done from old ballpoint pens. How to make a pen: a step-by-step master class for making a ballpoint pen with your own hands

It would seem that old felt-tip pens and pens cannot be of any use, and there is no point in storing them. But in fact, they can be given a new life by applying on the farm.

Spool of thread from an old felt-tip pen

If you are fond of needlework, then an old felt-tip pen can serve you well. First of all, you need to pull out all its insides from the felt-tip pen, then use a file to saw off part of the body of the desired size, and you're done. You can wind the threads on an impromptu spool. It is very practical and convenient.

Travel pincushion

Any woman knows that when going on a trip, you need to have a thread with a needle in your arsenal, as there is always a chance to damage clothes. With the help of an elongated cap from a felt-tip pen, you can make a convenient travel pincushion with your own hands. One has only to place a piece of foam rubber inside the cap or make a cap out of it, and voila, you can stick needles inside. With such a needle bed, you can be sure that they will not get lost and will not be able to prick anyone.

Shelf holder

Many people know the problem of old Soviet cabinets - the parts that hold the shelf often broke in them, and it fell down with a roar. But this problem can be solved with the help of a felt-tip pen case. One has only to cut off a small part and insert it into special grooves in the cabinet. For reliability, you can fix all this with a drop of glue. Such a craft will remove the cabinet from the collapse of the shelves.

Seedling plate holders

If you are an avid summer resident and have a large garden, then you probably need special signs that indicate where which seedlings are located. You can make a holder for such plates using an old felt-tip pen. You just need to make a cross section in the case, and insert a cardboard with an inscription there. There is another option - to make cuts on the cardboard, as shown in the photo below.

Curtain on the door

If you have a large number of old felt-tip pens or pens lying around, then you can easily make an unusual curtain for an interior door from them. Using a fishing line or thin wire, you need to assemble parts from pens or felt-tip pens into a single chain, each about two meters long (it is better to measure the doorway in the apartment). The curtain is almost ready, use screws or nails to fix it over the door, and the unusual decoration on the door is ready. You can diversify it with the help of beads and other decorative elements.

Feet for small boxes

From a cut case from a pen or a felt-tip pen, you can make original legs-stands for small boxes, just keep in mind that they cannot withstand a lot of weight.

Everyone knows that the accumulation of unnecessary things only clutters up the apartment and does not allow you to live normally. But almost every person has a lot of things that could have been thrown away a long time ago. A striking example of such items that are no longer needed, but it is a pity to throw them away, are old ballpoint pens. Usually they are postponed in order to subsequently replace the rod with a new one, but they forget to do it. But few people know that a lot of useful things can be made from old pens. Consider the most popular and attractive options.

Throw away as useless or apply correctly?

In the last century, no one threw away scribbled pens. My grandmother carefully collected them all and went to the store to buy new rods to replace. She did not always do this, and as a result, a huge number of empty pens accumulated in our house.

I wondered if it was possible to apply them somehow, and found many interesting options:

  • original decoration;
  • decor for a table lamp;
  • toy for a child;
  • jewelry in the style of "do it yourself";
  • stand for pencils.

Important! It is better if there are many different pens with an ended rod in the arsenal of the home master. This will give you the opportunity to be creative and create unique crafts.

In fact, there are quite a few options where you can use this simple item. People do not even think that such a trifle as a body from an old writing instrument can diversify our lives.

What can be done from pens for the house?

Craft lovers will definitely appreciate the various crafts made from the bodies of old ballpoint pens. Women needlewomen can experiment by creating unusual and original decorations that are suitable even for festive events, if they are made with high quality and with love.

original decoration

You can easily create eye-catching decorations for your home from the bodies of old pens. For example, decorate a clockwork with a dial along the contour with multi-colored pens or felt-tip pens, after removing the caps.

Another option, more complex, would be the construction of an unusual night light in the form of randomly assembled handles with transparent cases. They are assembled into a single structure using a dense fishing line. The form can be any.

An LED strip is pulled through each body from the rod and connected to the power supply so that they can flicker in the dark. It is better if the night light is assembled from a large number of identical handles with a transparent body.

Table lamp decor

The original shade for a table lamp can be made from handles matched to each other, which will be fastened together with wire or glued with resistant glue. Pens with a transparent or translucent body look attractive. They create a magical flicker of light in the room.

Each handle is carefully coated with glue and the next case is glued to it, rounding the structure. In the toga, you should get a round shade that needs to be attached to a table lamp. You can take a plastic bottle or a jar as a template, along the contour of which the handles will be glued. Subsequently, the bank will need to be removed.

The resulting design must be reliableattach to table lamp frame with the help of a wire. The light bulb should be inside the structure and flicker through the housings from the handles. This decor looks very original and pleasing to the eye.

child toy

Little girls will be interested in miniature dolls. To do this, form the head of a future doll from a small ball, cover it with a cloth, draw a mouth, eyes and nose. The old handles will serve as the body of the doll. With the help of a dense fishing line, the torso, arms and legs are formed, connecting several old handles together. Hair is formed from threads, and a dress or other clothing is formed from small pieces of fabric. The doll is ready.

DIY jewelry

Here you can show maximum imagination. You can simply string multi-colored caps on a fishing line and create an unusual necklace in a modern style, or cut the bodies of multi-colored plastic handles into large beads and show your creative thinking: the resulting beads can be alternated, strung on a thread or created from them in bright patterns.

Important! For lovers of beadwork, working with such beads will be a new original activity, thanks to which you can create unusual things and jewelry.

Pencil stand

To make an original stand, you will have to stock up on glue, a thick sheet of cardboard or a small piece of chipboard, as well as a certain amount of old ballpoint pens. A bottom is cut out of chipboard or cardboard, it can be round, square - it depends on the desire of the master.

Next, you need to glue the cases of old handles to it with reliable glue. They are glued vertically, preferably gluing also among themselves, so that the structure is stable. Subsequently, the resulting stand can be varnished or left unchanged.

Each hostess can independently dream up on the topic of using old ballpoint pens. But you can definitely say what to throw away material,so valuable for home crafts, not worth it.

Summer will soon begin and parents will need to come up with various activities for their children every day. On one of the evenings, you can arrange a real master class on how to make a writing pen yourself from materials available at home.

For any person, it is a pen that is a necessary thing almost throughout life. Therefore, after looking at a photo of a homemade pen, it is not at all surprising that there is a desire to independently try to complete all the steps and make a pen.

Paper pen: how to make

Take one plain sheet of paper in the classic size - A4. It is necessary to measure 14 cm from its longest side. This is a little more than the length of any plastic rod used.

On the other side, approximately 10-12 cm is measured, which is less than the rod. This is an important point that must be observed so that the lower part of the handle can be made in the familiar shape of a known cone. Next, the marks are connected by drawing a line. Subsequently, it is necessary to cut the sheet along it.

On that side of the sheet, where 14 cm were previously noted, it is necessary to apply glue, carefully wrap the prepared rod.

It is important to follow the instructions on how to make a pen without deviating from it in anything. After the glue dries, the paper is wound as tightly as possible around the entire rod, and its edge must be additionally smeared with glue so that in the future your craft will never unwind during work.


During the work, make sure that the cone is formed only at the bottom of the stationery, since the other part must be as even as possible. If for some reason this cannot be done, it will be possible to correct the situation with a knife.

The created pen can be painted with absolutely any acrylic paint for beauty. It is advisable to choose acrylic, because after it dries, it will not dissolve with water.

If you decide to use watercolor / simple gouache while decorating the handle, then be sure that the part of the handle that you cover with them must be additionally varnished. Otherwise, you may get your hands dirty while using the pen.

Ready-made stationery can be pasted over with beautiful paper, which today is often used in scrapbook / gift wrapping.

An interesting idea is to use a glossy magazine or foil tape, which is popular lately, for pasting the pages.

From prolonged use, it happens that the paper begins to rub off. In order to avoid a repetition of this situation with the paper used for the pen, it is best to additionally paste over it with transparent tape or varnish it.

Of course, today in any store you can buy a simple pen, but if you are looking for what you can make a pen at home, then you are an admirer of the exclusive, and in combination with a large number of different master classes, where you can learn how various crafts are created and stationery including, you can create a pen that no one else will ever have. At the same time, such a pen can even be given to a friend as an author's gift.

Wooden handle

Looking through various original ideas for homemade pens, you have probably already stumbled upon the option of a wooden handle and so now it's time to dwell on it in more detail.

What materials may be needed?

A few metal tubes, a simple rod, a mechanism that will later be used for a pen, some wood blanks, sandpaper and glue.

All actions will need to be performed using a lathe. Therefore, thinking about how to make a frame for a pen on your own, take care of finding it in advance.

Keep in mind that the use of any finishing materials will affect the color of the wood. Therefore, before you start applying them to the finished product, it is best to test on any waste. This will avoid unexpected results.


A band saw, like a cut-off machine, is potentially dangerous if used incorrectly, so it is important to use them as carefully as possible and follow all safety requirements.

Don't let the fumes of different varnishes/adhesives have a negative impact on your health. It is better if they are used exclusively in a ventilated room, and as far as possible from materials that are flammable.

During operation, after stripping the metal tubes, be sure to lubricate them with good quality glue.

In the absence of wooden blanks, you can create them yourself using the online lesson.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that today more and more people are asked how to make a pen with their own hands every day, which is explained by a number of different factors. Having learned how to make it yourself, you can present the pen as a gift to a business partner or one of your friends.

The creation of even ten such pens will cost several times cheaper than ordering them at any enterprise.

Photo ideas of homemade pens

1 / 5 ( 1 vote)

Take a look at your desk. Surely there was a couple (or even a good dozen) of ballpoint, gel, expensive, cheap - in a word, different pens lying around in it.
If this is the case, let's make a useful thing out of them or find a worthy use for them!

What should a gift pen look like?

A branded car or a fountain pen is a thing that is designed to emphasize the high status of the owner.

The design of this gift must be impeccable.

Manufacturing companies produce products in packaging boxes or cases, which are enough to tie up with a beautiful bow - and the gift is ready to be presented.

But to many this will seem a little original, because there are many great ways to pack:

  1. Wrap the box with the pen in wrapping paper. Cut out feathers from a sheet of a suitable color or thick newspaper.

  2. For each feather, make cuts in the form of a fringe along the contour. Gently iron the folds in the middle. Then arrange the blanks together, glue to the wrapper and tie with twine or woolen thread.

  3. If the pen is intended for a person from a writing environment, then the packaging in the form of a book is a 100% hit.
    From thick cardboard, cut out 3 parts: a spine and 2 sheets of cover. Glue them with small gaps on the material with which the book will be wrapped: textiles, paper, leather. Cut off the excess, leaving allowances that need to be folded onto the cardboard.

  4. Now choose a paper sheet of suitable size for the endpapers and carefully stick it on the inside. On the back endpaper, fasten a box a couple of millimeters smaller than the cover itself. Cardboard for her is better to choose a yellowish tint - the color of the book pages.

    The false book is almost finished. It remains to decorate the cover and provide it with ties. Everything is used: buttons, beads, lace, newspaper clippings. And if the future owner of the pen is working on writing a real book, then decorate the packaging in accordance with the content of the future work. You can give a gift with the words: “Is the pen great, but writes big books” and wish fruitful and uninterrupted work.

  5. The pen can also be hidden in a tall jar filled to the top with various sweets. Why them? A writing person thinks a lot and intensely, and glucose will help the thought process! Decorate the container to your taste. A simple option is ribbons.

  6. It is easy to make and packaging in the form of a scroll. Aged paper looks spectacular. Soak the leaves in tea leaves, dry. Give the edges a frayed look, and tear in several places. At the end of the finished "parchment" make 2 slots (top and bottom) for ribbons or twine, then fasten the present. The remaining free space in the scroll will be occupied by the text.

    An interesting move is to write a comic decree (you can be inspired by the imperial decrees of Peter I, for example) and leave a place for a signature. When the “king”, and concurrently the future owner of the pen, reads the decree, having reached the end of the scroll, he will find the “pen” and put his signature under the instruction. So you can present a gift to your leader.

  7. You can also romantically present a pen. To do this, wrap it with a ribbon (satin or lace), and attach a flower made of fabric or even newspaper at the end.

Surprise for your child

You do not know where to put a mountain of unnecessary pens? What can be done from a pen at home? We will tell and show!
A cute doll for children can be created on the basis of an ordinary ballpoint pen. In this craft, she will play the role of the body.

A ping-pong ball is suitable for a doll head. Make a hole in the ball and put it on the handle. The costume can be "sewn" both from fabric and from paper using the origami technique. If the choice is for a fabric dress, give additional volume to the body by wrapping cotton wool around it.

As for the hair, the material can also be different. It is cut into strips and glued to the ball.

Paper hair does not need to be left straight, it can be easily turned into curls if wound on a rod or pulled with scissors (depending on the density of the paper). It remains to finish the face. You can draw it with felt-tip pens or stick pieces of colored paper.

A more perfect sample of the doll is created using the so-called foamiran, which has a texture resembling suede. Its exclusivity lies in the ability to stretch and take any shape when heated.

To create these models, details of clothes and shoes are cut out of plastic suede, pieces for fitting the head and torso. This work is laborious, so it is better to start with small parts from foamiran. For example, only heads.

The foam ball is covered with a piece of plastic suede, preheated with an iron, all excess is carefully cut off. The workpiece is removed from the ball, so that later it can be put on glue. Hair is created. Then they are cut into fringes, any hairstyle is formed and glued to the head.

To attach the finished doll head to the body, i.e. Handle, wind a layer of suede around it. Parts of the toy are easy to glue together.

For a dress, cut a piece of fabric, sew it on the sides, pull it off with a thread from above and put it on the handle. You can sew on handles made of foamiran.

When the ability to work in such a technique comes, proceed to more complex toys.

https://miaset.ru/education/tips/handle.html

Caps as parts of a three-dimensional panel

Mosaic from the caps of old fountain pens? Why not, you can make any picture in mosaic technique: portrait, landscape, still life. Print the image you like on squared paper in the desired format and color. Apply the same grid of cells to cardboard or plywood (the basis for the picture).

Each colored cell on the printout corresponds to a cell on the workpiece, a cap of the corresponding shade is selected for it.

For the first experiments, it is better to stop the choice on the pictures without an abundance of shades, otherwise there will be difficulties with the color selection of the caps.

If the caps are with a stick, it must be cut off. We fasten caps in a lined grid with glue of a suitable color.

Additional volume is created by using caps of different heights. In the figure, we determine the most convex part of the object (on an apple it is the middle of the red color) and the flattest (top and bottom). In accordance with this, we distribute the caps on the panel in height: at the top and bottom - short, and increasing towards the middle, where the highest ones will be located. The height can be adjusted by simply cutting off the bottom of the cap.

These jobs are also done with screws, but caps will do the job just fine too!

Tip: if you don’t have the right shades, just paint the caps in the desired color!

Useful use of an already useless pen


Convenient and original storage of stationery

What to come up with in addition to the classic and already boring delivery:


How many more interesting, good things can be created from a simple pen? As many as your imagination allows! It is quite possible that the listed ideas will push you to create your own masterpiece, which you will share in the comments.

1 / 5 ( 1 vote)

Take a look at your desk. Surely there was a couple (or even a good dozen) of ballpoint, gel, expensive, cheap - in a word, different pens lying around in it.
If this is the case, let's make a useful thing out of them or find a worthy use for them!

What should a gift pen look like?

A branded car or a fountain pen is a thing that is designed to emphasize the high status of the owner.

The design of this gift must be impeccable.

Manufacturing companies produce products in packaging boxes or cases, which are enough to tie up with a beautiful bow - and the gift is ready to be presented.

But to many this will seem a little original, because there are many great ways to pack:

  1. Wrap the box with the pen in wrapping paper. Cut out feathers from a sheet of a suitable color or thick newspaper.

  2. For each feather, make cuts in the form of a fringe along the contour. Gently iron the folds in the middle. Then arrange the blanks together, glue to the wrapper and tie with twine or woolen thread.

  3. If the pen is intended for a person from a writing environment, then the packaging in the form of a book is a 100% hit.
    From thick cardboard, cut out 3 parts: a spine and 2 sheets of cover. Glue them with small gaps on the material with which the book will be wrapped: textiles, paper, leather. Cut off the excess, leaving allowances that need to be folded onto the cardboard.

  4. Now choose a paper sheet of suitable size for the endpapers and carefully stick it on the inside. On the back endpaper, fasten a box a couple of millimeters smaller than the cover itself. Cardboard for her is better to choose a yellowish tint - the color of the book pages.

    The false book is almost finished. It remains to decorate the cover and provide it with ties. Everything is used: buttons, beads, lace, newspaper clippings. And if the future owner of the pen is working on writing a real book, then decorate the packaging in accordance with the content of the future work. You can give a gift with the words: “Is the pen great, but writes big books” and wish fruitful and uninterrupted work.

  5. The pen can also be hidden in a tall jar filled to the top with various sweets. Why them? A writing person thinks a lot and intensely, and glucose will help the thought process! Decorate the container to your taste. A simple option is ribbons.

  6. It is easy to make and packaging in the form of a scroll. Aged paper looks spectacular. Soak the leaves in tea leaves, dry. Give the edges a frayed look, and tear in several places. At the end of the finished "parchment" make 2 slots (top and bottom) for ribbons or twine, then fasten the present. The remaining free space in the scroll will be occupied by the text.

    An interesting move is to write a comic decree (you can be inspired by the imperial decrees of Peter I, for example) and leave a place for a signature. When the “king”, and concurrently the future owner of the pen, reads the decree, having reached the end of the scroll, he will find the “pen” and put his signature under the instruction. So you can present a gift to your leader.

  7. You can also romantically present a pen. To do this, wrap it with a ribbon (satin or lace), and attach a flower made of fabric or even newspaper at the end.

Surprise for your child

You do not know where to put a mountain of unnecessary pens? What can be done from a pen at home? We will tell and show!
A cute doll for children can be created on the basis of an ordinary ballpoint pen. In this craft, she will play the role of the body.

A ping-pong ball is suitable for a doll head. Make a hole in the ball and put it on the handle. The costume can be "sewn" both from fabric and from paper using the origami technique. If the choice is for a fabric dress, give additional volume to the body by wrapping cotton wool around it.

As for the hair, the material can also be different. It is cut into strips and glued to the ball.

Paper hair does not need to be left straight, it can be easily turned into curls if wound on a rod or pulled with scissors (depending on the density of the paper). It remains to finish the face. You can draw it with felt-tip pens or stick pieces of colored paper.

A more perfect sample of the doll is created using the so-called foamiran, which has a texture resembling suede. Its exclusivity lies in the ability to stretch and take any shape when heated.

To create these models, details of clothes and shoes are cut out of plastic suede, pieces for fitting the head and torso. This work is laborious, so it is better to start with small parts from foamiran. For example, only heads.

The foam ball is covered with a piece of plastic suede, preheated with an iron, all excess is carefully cut off. The workpiece is removed from the ball, so that later it can be put on glue. Hair is created. Then they are cut into fringes, any hairstyle is formed and glued to the head.

To attach the finished doll head to the body, i.e. Handle, wind a layer of suede around it. Parts of the toy are easy to glue together.

For a dress, cut a piece of fabric, sew it on the sides, pull it off with a thread from above and put it on the handle. You can sew on handles made of foamiran.

When the ability to work in such a technique comes, proceed to more complex toys.

Caps as parts of a three-dimensional panel

Mosaic from the caps of old fountain pens? Why not, you can make any picture in mosaic technique: portrait, landscape, still life. Print the image you like on squared paper in the desired format and color. Apply the same grid of cells to cardboard or plywood (the basis for the picture).

Each colored cell on the printout corresponds to a cell on the workpiece, a cap of the corresponding shade is selected for it.

For the first experiments, it is better to stop the choice on the pictures without an abundance of shades, otherwise there will be difficulties with the color selection of the caps.

If the caps are with a stick, it must be cut off. We fasten caps in a lined grid with glue of a suitable color.

Additional volume is created by using caps of different heights. In the figure, we determine the most convex part of the object (on an apple it is the middle of the red color) and the flattest (top and bottom). In accordance with this, we distribute the caps on the panel in height: at the top and bottom - short, and increasing towards the middle, where the highest ones will be located. The height can be adjusted by simply cutting off the bottom of the cap.

These jobs are also done with screws, but caps will do the job just fine too!

Tip: if you don’t have the right shades, just paint the caps in the desired color!

Useful use of an already useless pen


Convenient and original storage of stationery

What to come up with in addition to the classic and already boring delivery:


How many more interesting, good things can be created from a simple pen? As many as your imagination allows! It is quite possible that the listed ideas will push you to create your own masterpiece, which you will share in the comments.