tutorial real writing pencil

Hi y'all, just like to mention a tutorial that has been in my Tutorial, Tips & Trics II section since February and maybe you like. And maybe gives you a nice reason to go into the summery outdoors to find the key-ingredient if you like having a goal. Or you might find it in an old stash of dried flowers like I did. Anyway, if you like it, enjoy making it!

You need:

- a thin dried stem (mine is slightly less then 1 mm thick), like the dried flower in the photo, but nature has more thin hollow stems

 - a pencil lead from a penlike pencil you normally 'feed' those to write

- a hobbyfile like mine, an emoryboard, or a piece of sandpaper stuck to something flat

- paint if you like (spraypaint works best) and then also doublesided tape to hold the pencil up

Then:

1) gently file the lead by rolling over it with the file or sandpaper, until it's thin enough to fit the hollow inside of your stem.

2) And very gently put it in the stem. If it doesn't go further, don't push, you might need to file a bit more as I had to in the left-down picture. It does break sometimes, then you can make a smaller pencil from that, a 'used' one. It can be loose a bit and the lead can shift inside the pencil, then you can put a tiny bit of superglue to the lead on the side it comes out and push it in. That way it should stay put.

3) If you want you can paint now, put it with the back on a piece of doublesided tape and (spray)paint.

4) After drying you can file/sand the point and the back till they look like the real deal.