How to make animal pencil pot holders

Breathe new life into empty yoghurt bottles and transform them into charming, animal-themed, homemade pen pots. We'll guide you, step-by-step, through creating a DIY animal pencil holder to turn these humble containers, into something both beautiful and functional.

Whether you’re looking to add a splash of personality to your desk or seeking a fun craft to do with the family, these DIY pencil holders are the perfect blend of creativity and sustainability and are super easy to make using our printable template.

Let’s dive in and see how you can turn yoghurt bottles into adorable animal friends to keep your pens and pencils in check!

What you will need

DIY Animal Pen Pot Holder - FREE Printable Template (61.02 KB)
Blu Glu stick
PVA white Glu
Removable Glu Dots
Extra Strong Glu Dots
Recycled yoghurt bottles
Coloured card
Scissors
Embellishments - googly eyes, sequins, biodegradable glitter and more!

Difficulty

Average time

10-45 mins

Cost

Print version!

Instructions

Step 1: Gather your craft supplies

Print out the animal characters onto your choice of white card to colour in, or print directly onto coloured card. Gather all other craft supplies including your embellishments of choice.

Step 2: Cut the template

Once printed, cut each element of the animal characters using scissors.

Tacky's tip

Children should have adult supervision when cutting with scissors.

Step 3: Decorate the template

When each of your shapes have been cut out, the decoration of your DIY animal pencil pots can begin!

Starting with the front section of your animal character, colour, paint or stick a range of embellishments with PVA white Glu or Blu Glu stick.

Step 4: Add details

Once the body of each animal has been decorated as desired, add special features to bring your characters to life, such as googly eyes, or stick its facial features in place using Foam Pads for a 3D effect.

Step 5: Attach Glu Dots

Attach three Glu Dots to one side of your yoghurt bottle and peel off the backing.

Then, secure the back of the front piece of card to the yoghurt bottle. Be sure to position the yoghurt bottle in the centre of the card with the hole of the bottle at the top - this is where your pens and pencils will sit.

Step 6: Stick your animal together

Pick up the back piece of card for the animal character and attach one or two Glu Dots to the sides before peeling off the backing.

Then, stick the front and back cards together using the Glu Dots so the yoghurt bottle sits in the middle.

Step 7: Finishing touches

Attach any final embellishments including gems, buttons and of course, the animal's tail, using Blu Glu stick or PVA white Glu.

Step 8: Your DIY animal pencil holder is done

Ta-da! You've now upcycled your old yoghurt bottles into a beautiful yet functional, DIY animal pen pot. Add in your favourite pens or pencils for a super cute, animal-themed pot to sit pretty on a desk or bedroom windowsill.