DIY: Back-to-School Pencil Cake

Make a Back-To-School Pencil Cake

This cake is made of all those school supplies every one is running around stocking up on before school starts.

I made a few adjustments based on what supplies I had around the house.  For instance the original “recipe” I found called for a Styrofoam center, but since I didn’t have one I used an old cookie tin from last Christmas.  Once I made that little change I had to come up with different “candles” since I couldn’t stick pencils in the foam – glue sticks to the rescue.

Supplies

• Old cookie tin – any size
• 4-5 dozen pencils that are all the same length
• One large rubber band
• 3-5 Elmer’s glue sticks – any size – for the candles
• 3-5 erasers that you stick on the end of pencils – for the candle flames
• Large assortment of rubber bands or paper clips for the frosting
• Some old newspaper

Instructions

1. Take the lid off the tin then put the large rubber around the cookie tin – somewhere around the middle.  Choose a rubber band that has just a little give when it’s around the tin.
2. Start placing the pencils between the rubber band and the tin. Try to keep the pencils straight as you go around the tin.
3. Once you have the tin completely covered in pencils, crumple up some of the newspaper and gently fill the tin – try to keep it level on top.  I had to overfill the tin by about six inches.  This will become sort of like a spacer so that the lid sits higher and closer to the top of the pencils. Once you have the newspaper level sit the lid on top of the newspaper.
4. Place your glue sticks (candles) on top.  Once the candles are where you want them you can sprinkle the rubber bands or paper clips all around the candles for the frosting.
5. Lastly, gently place the erasers on the glue sticks to light up the cake.

Voila! Do you have any back-to-school crafts you make each year? Please share them with us on Facebook and Twitter @DetroitMommies and give us a mention.  We’ll be sure to share and retweet!