Handy Pencil Holder

By Jane Scherer

To make a pencil holder, you will need: scissors, a seed packet with a picture of a flower or vegetable on the front, a ruler, a small piece of lightweight cardboard, narrow ribbon 20 inches (51 cm) long, glue, and two new pencils.

1. Neatly cut off the top of the seed packet. Save the seeds to plant later.

2. Make a small bow with an 11-inch (28-cm) length of ribbon. Glue it to the outside of the packet.

3. Using the remaining length of ribbon, glue an end to the inside of each side of the packet and let dry.

4. Cut the cardboard slightly less than the width of the packet by 1/2 inch (1.3 cm). With the ruler, crease the cardboard through the middle. Glue the cardboard across the inside bottom of the package to make it stronger.

5. Place two pencils inside the packet.

Illustrations by Val C. Bagley