The Wonderful Words for this Wednesday are:

“Handmade Gifts”

Friends, Christmas is JUST around the corner and wouldn’t you love to give your friends and family some handmade gifts that they will treasure? Well, I’ve got you covered.

As promised in a previous BLOG post, I have created a ‘Pencil Pouch Tutorial’ for you. Read on to find out how to make these unique pouches, for yourself and/or for gifts. I’ve learned a lot of lessons from making several so far , so take heed and you won’t mess as many up as I have.

There are two ways I’ve been making them, with paint and stencils, or with pretty paper napkins. I’ll include directions for both below.

Without further ado, Let’s get creative friends!

The Supplies (links in blue)

To start, you’ll need a pack of blank canvas pouches. I purchased mine from Amazon: 15 Blank Canvas Pouches. If you think 15 is too many, think again! First of all, even if you don’t make the mistakes I made, you’ll most likely find some more ways to mess several up (especially if you like to try new ideas like me!). AND, I’m pretty sure you’re going to love this and want to make all of these and then some more. Imagine having handmade gifts at the ready for birthdays or special occasions that creep up on you! Plus, these are literally $0.73 each, so C’mon.

You will also need a piece of cardboard covered with parchment paper cut to fit inside the pouch.

For Both Ways you’ll need the following:

Flat paint brush
FABRIC Mod Podge. And yes, you do need to get the FABRIC type. Do not try using the regular Mod Podge you have in your cupboard somewhere (or do and let me know how it goes!).
DuraClear Varnish for a finishing coat for both techniques.

For the Stenciled Pouch

If you are using paint and stencils, here’s what you need: Stencils, a stencil roller, and Multi-Surface Acrylic Paints: My favorite Paints, my Mandala Stencil

The Paper Napkin Pouch

If you are going to do the napkin technique, you should get some pretty napkins. Vippies.com sells them individually for this purpose and so does decoupagenapkins.com That’s where I got many of mine, but I also purchased a pack at the $1.25 store. In addition to the napkins, you’ll need another couple of pieces of parchment paper and an iron.

*I’m an Amazon Associate so each time you purchase something from the links I provide, I earn a few cents. Thank you!

Step by Step Instructions

Stenciled Pouches

Step 1

Put your parchment paper covered cardboard inside your pouch and place your pouch on a nonporous surface that can get messy.

*If you forget this step, your paint will go all the way through to the back layer so the front will look great but the back will have lovely paint blotches like so:

Step 2

Place your stencil on your pouch where you’d like it to be and tape it on with painters tape or masking tape. Make sure the stencil is pressed down securely. Because the pouch has seems and is not completely flat, you may have to help keep it flat onto the canvas with you fingers as you roll on your paint. Don’t worry, the paint washes off friends!

*In my case, the stencil was bigger than the pouch, so I just used half of it. Can you see the black zipper of the pouch sticking up over the blue tape? I made sure to cover all of the canvas so as not to accidentally roller too far!

Step 3

Roll your paint over the stencil until you can tell the pattern is filled with paint, and then remove your stencil and wash it off. This could take a few tries until you get the idea of how much paint is needed to get it filled without bleeding underneath. Don’t worry if one of your pouches gets messed up in this step, remember, it’s just $0.73, AND, you can probably find a creative way to save it anyway. Here is a pic of the correct amount of paint and then one with TOO much paint:

Step 4

Let your paint dry completely.

Step 5

Now get your flat paint brush and apply 2 generous coats of Fabric Mod Podge over your whole pouch, paying careful attention that it doesn’t get on the zipper, but DOES get into the seems on the sides and bottom. Let dry completely between coats. Pro tip: put it over a tall skinny glass or a tea tin to dry.

Step 6

Lastly apply 2 coats of DuraClear as a finisher, letting each coat dry completely before applying the next.

* You can apply as many coats of the Mod Podge and DuraClear as you’d like for your desired finish. Each canvas bag is a bit different and will absorb it differently. Two coats of each is the minimum.