Glamorize Your Pen

Ever since Ninzerbean posted her Bic Pen goes Glamorous instructable I have been embellishing the pen and pencil I use at work with Sugru and beads. It is a great way to personalize your boring office pens and impress your co-workers too.

I had wanted to make another one, but I discovered that I had run out of Sugru. I was too impatient to order more online and wait for it to ship, so I came up with another way to glamorize my pen. I mixed epoxy resin and glitter and slathered it onto my pen. Although it doesn't have the same tactile feel as the beads do, it does look pretty sparkly.

So far I made three of these pens, the pink one I made first for myself with larger sized glitter and the red and green ones I made for friends.

• The pen you wish to glamorize

• Epoxy resin, I actually use epoxy glue, but you need to make sure that it dries clear

• Glitter (I used both large and fine sized glitter)

• Masking/painters tape

• Popsicle stick

• Mixing tray

• Newspaper

• Optional: sandpaper, utility knife

You may wish to sand off the pen logo worth some fine grit sandpaper, though if you use a high density of glitter, you may not need to. Tape off the area that you don't want to apply the glitter-epoxy mixture on. It is helpful if you have areas taped off on each end of the pen as it will make it easier to handle. Protect your work surface with newspaper and read through the instructions for your epoxy resin, set and dry times may vary so refer to those times rather than mine. Also read over, and follow the precautions as well. Epoxy resin is toxic and can be an irritant to skin (I recommend using disposable gloves).

Mix your epoxy resin according to the instructions and add in the glitter. I used roughly 1/4 the volume of the syringe for one pen (which is probably about 6ml). There should be enough glitter to saturate the epoxy resin but it does effect the viscosity of the resin, so don't add too much. Spread the mixture onto the pen like butter on toast, it should be smooth and evenly distributed. I only had about 5 min to work with so I had to do it quickly. If it starts to get tacky stop trying to spread it, otherwise you will ruin the smooth surface. Hold the pen perpendicular to the ground and rotate it until it sets, otherwise you will have drips and bulges.

Note: I found that the smaller sized glitter smooths on better than the larger, which ended up being too lumpy. So I definitely recommend using finer glitter. Also feel free to mix different colours, the red pen I made also has bits of gold glitter too.

Once set, place in a dry, dust free place and leave it to cure. I propped it up using the taped ends to support it not letting the resin touch anything. Keep out of reach of children, pets and curious adults.

My epoxy resin takes about 24hrs to cure. Once cured gently peel off the tape, you may need to use a utility knife to separate the tape from the epoxy at the ends. Now it is ready to use, and don't worry epoxy resin is non-toxic once cured.