Earth-Day Inspired Yarn-Wrapped Scandi Pencil Holder DIY

This post is sponsored by Aveeno, a brand we love and use.  We are thrilled to be partnering with them to promote recycling—something we’re very passionate about! Happy Earth Day!

When we left Los Angeles (almost two years ago!), we left most of our possessions, too.  We either sold them, gave them away to friends, or left pieces by the street and watched with interest to see who they would go home with.  It wasn’t that we didn’t love them, but we knew we would be house hopping for awhile and that the style of our new home would be a lot different.  Ever since that major purge, we are slower to buy new things.  I have a list a mile long of pieces we could use for our new home, but it takes me months of shopping and scouring, contemplating and conversing with Aaron about it before we both feel like we want to pull the trigger on something.  Did I mention that I’m totally okay with this, too? I like the idea of carefully contemplated consumption and not accumulating too many things.  In honor of Earth Day, we partnered today with Aveeno to repurpose their Daily Moisturizing Lotion bottles into this yarn-wrapped Scandi pencil holder-- something we’ve been needing for our office.  Did you know that almost 50% of Americans say that they now recycle items from their bathroom? That’s nearly double what the number was in 2014! If you’re all done with your favorite lotion, simply throw out the pump, give your bottle a quick rinse and toss in the recycling can.  Recycling just a single bottle can save enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes!  Even better, take that empty bottle and follow these step by step upcycling instructions for creating your own desktop organizer…

Yarn-Wrapped Scandi Pencil Holder DIY

What You’ll Need:

• empty lotion bottle, rinsed and dried (we used an Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion bottle)
• scissors
• matte paint (we used ArtMinds chalk paint in Tuscan gold- choose a color that’s similar to your yarn)
• paint sponge or brush
• mod podge or other glue
• yarn of your choice, we went with a chunkier yarn

Instructions:

1. Begin by cutting the bottle down to the height of your choice for your organizer. Remember that you want it to be tall enough to support the items inside. If it’s too low, the pencils can make it too top heavy.
2. Paint both the outside and inside of the bottle with the matte paint and allow to dry. The matte texture gives the glue and yarn a little something extra to hang onto, plus it provides a base color for the inside and for any area that might peek through beneath the yarn. (That’s why we recommend choosing a paint that’s a similar color to the yarn.)
3. Once the paint is dry, apply the mod podge generously all over the bottle.
4. Wrap the bottle tightly with the yarn, covering completely. Leave an extra generous “tail” at the top to complete the knot detail that we did or you can just secure the end to the bottle.
5. Once dry, you’re ready to use!

Photography for Yarn-Wrapped Scandi Pencil Holder DIY by Katie Jameson

(For more DIY ideas, see here!)