DIY Liquid pencil case - under the sea theme pencil case

I saw a lot of liquid school supplies DIY's around the internet especially on youtube while I was binge watching. I thought I should give that a try as it was looking fun and interesting. To be honest, my first try was a disaster and a major fail. But it was totally due to my impatience. I learnt some not to do things along the way and finally got it right. And today I am sharing it with you all.Are you ready to jump into this fun DIY tutorial? Here is how.

Materials Required:
Clear vinyl (thick variety) - 1/4 yard
Vinyl glue /Iron box /flat iron/ bag sealer
Toothpicks
Stickers (Optional) - I am using laser fish stickers from dollar store
Scissors
Ruler and a marker
Solid teal fabric - 8.5" X 6" (Optional)
Fine glitter and pearl beads (Optional)
Velcro sticky back for closure
Washi tape / duct tape for decorating

Step 1: Cut two 8.5" X 6" vinyl piece for the front part of pencil case and one 8.5" X 9" for back. Use marker to mark on the vinyl. Leave the marks while cutting or use a paper towel dipped in rubbing alcohol or nail polish to remove the marks.

Step 2: Take one front piece and glue the stickers to the vinyl using a tiny bit of vinyl glue. If you don't use glue, the stickers come off after a while.(Refer the picture below) Learnt this from my first trial. When you use the vinyl glue , the back side of the vinyl will look like the vinyl has melted in the place where you applied glue. Don't worry that is how the glue works. It melts in order to bond the two surfaces that's why it looks like how it is. 

Step 3: Apply glue on three corners of the vinyl with stickers and glue the another piece on top to create a sealed pouch. Be generous while applying the glue and make sure you apply evenly to tightly seal all the three corners.Use a toothpick to apply glue and work in a small area at a time. Allow the glue to dry for 24 hrs. I made two type of pencil case one is the clear one and another is with fabric backing. If you are making the fabric backing, allow few mins for the glue to dry then apply glue in the same way to the back of the pouch you created and glue the fabric to it. (Only on three sides).

Alternate methods :

Iron /Flat ironMethod:

If you don't want to wait for 24 hr, you can follow the iron box method to melt the layers of vinyl.To do, use parchment paper and sandwich the layers of vinyl inside the paper. Then melt the corners. You can also use the flat iron for this. But I got good results from iron box compared to the flat iron. 

 I followed the Iron method for my first trial(shown above) and it worked fine in one case and it did not work at all in the second case. But the reason for the failure was, as I said earlier(impatience) I did not wait for the vinyl to cool down after melting it together with Iron. So, when I poured the liquid inside, the melted layer got torn and the liquid splashed all over. (Sounds fun, right? Not at all! ) I wasn't prepared for this ;) And I made this trial with yellow acrylic paint and soap. Imagine the mess :P 

So, if you are following the iron method, make sure you wait for some time until the vinyl cools down and then pour the liquid. Make a trial version before you make the actual DIY to get comfortable with the method. 

Bag sealer method:

If you are planning to do this DIY with a group of kids for say "Under the sea" Birthday party and you want to speed up the process, you can invest in a bag sealer. Again I haven't tried this method, but it should work. If you are planning to do this, make a test version. 

Step 4: Once the corners are dry and sealed, now is the time to put all the fun things inside. I poured some fine glitter and two pearl beads as I have glued some shell stickers I thought it will be apt. You can put whatever your heart desires. Then pump some clear soap into the pouch till it fills the quarter size of the pouch. 

You can also use water and glycerine(Like you will for creating a snow globe) instead of soap if you wish. I thought soap leaves a lot of bubbles and also it will be fun compared to water.

I tried putting two fish buttons inside in my first trial, but the buttons faded after 3 to 5 days. (Refer the first picture in step 2).So be aware of that if you decide to use buttons. That's why I shifted to pearls this time. 

Step 5:  Make sure there is no soap on the fourth side near the opening(Use a paper towel to clean)  and apply glue to seal this end. If you are using fabric follow the same steps as you did in step 2. Allow it to dry. 

Do the same if you are following iron or bag sealer method.

Step 6: Now take the big piece of vinyl 8.5" X 9" and glue to the back of the liquid pouch. Allow it to dry. 

Step 7: Once everything is dry, shape the front flap using scissors. Glue the velcro sticky back for closure. 

I decorated the corners using washi tape to hide the glue trial but you can use duct tape if you wish. Also to mask the velcro sticky back , I cut the washi tape to match the size of velcro and glue it to the front and decorated it with markers. That's it. You are done with your liquid pencil case. 

I actually tried to make a zipper pouch in my first trial by sewing the vinyl parts after creating the liquid pouch. I left an inch seam allowance to melt the vinyl layers even then the sewing did not work well. It started leaking(bottom right) after some time which is why I tried the alternate method. I am sure sewing with liquid vinyl will work but I did not have enough patience to make it right and also I don't want waste sewing supplies. (I think you know, there aren't cheap!) But glad that the glue method worked well. 

I personally liked the one with fabric as it gives a clear look of the fishes on the front as well as serves as a clear pouch at the back. It was so fun for me to play with these. I hope you will also give this a try and let me know how it turned out for you. 

You can use the same technique and create a lot of fun supplies like liquid lava notebooks, liquid phone case, liquid binder covers, etc. These are fun to make with a group of friends or as a family activity on a weekend.Are you planning for a "Finding dory birthday party" or "under the sea/aquarium" themed party? Then you should pin this to try!

Share with me what you think in the comments below. Do you feel somebody in your family or friend's circle will like this idea? Don't feel shy to share with them using the social media icons on the left, top and the bottom. ;)

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