Making your own fancy pens
Three ways to turn a plain everyday pen into something beautiful — with beads, ribbon, thread, or a little rhinestone bling.
Dear friend,
Do you ever look at a plain ballpoint pen sitting next to a handmade journal and feel like it just doesn't belong there? The journal is beautiful — covered, decorated, full of intention — and then there's this sad plastic pen.
That small mismatch is what started this project. Three different approaches: beads threaded right onto the ink cartridge, ribbon and thread wrapped around the barrel, and rhinestone mesh pressed on for full-on glam. Each one ends up looking genuinely one of a kind, because you're working with whatever's already in your stash — odd beads, scraps of ribbon, a strip of bling you've been saving for something.
There are a few tricky moments in each method — the kind of thing you'd only discover by making a mess first — and I work through all of them. (The one about never forcing a bead down over the ink tip: I learned that the hard way, not the theory way.) By the end you've got three finished pens sitting side by side, and honestly they make any desk or notebook feel a little more considered.
If you'd like to make some of your own, here's the whole thing — start to finish.
Fancy Pens Tutorial DIY ✍️ EASY!! 🌹
What you'll make
altered pen·for gifting
What you'll learn
bead finishing·beading·embellishing·gluing·hot gluing·knotting
What you'll need
beads·distress ink·empty pen barrels·fabric·glue·hot glue
That's the thing I keep coming back to with projects like this — the materials don't need to be special, just used with a little intention. I hope one of these methods finds its way onto your desk.
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