Get a little crafty.

So some of you may have already seen this little craft project if you happen to be a recipient of the Echo Co. Newsletter.  But for those who haven't and quite frankly, for lack of a better post for this blog, here ya go.  I made these the other day and I have to tell you that using No. 2 pencils does not work as well as colored pencils.  Just a little FYI from someone who learned the hard way!

Materials Needed:

glue gun (and glue sticks of course)

small cylindrical bud vase

colored pencils (any color combination you'd like)

ribbon (whatever color or pattern that will coordinate with your pencils, or not, if you live on the edge.) Haha.

Then just glue the pencils in whatever color pattern you would like around the vase and when you are done, tie the ribbon around the pencils, tie into a bow and glue to secure it.  Place the ribbon wherever you like, in the picture it's at the bottom of the vase and I did it a little more towards the top and it turned out fine.  These are really cute and make great teacher gifts!