What can you make with two blocks of wood, some bubble wrap, adhesive, rubber bands, a few sheets of paper and lots of pens??? Why a Plaid Maker of course!! Got a stockpile of pens? Want to use them in a new way? Let's make some backgrounds, mats, and frames with them! It doesn't matter what kind of album you are working on right now...from heirloom albums to kids books, there is a stripe or plaid waiting just for you in your pen stash!
You choose the colors. You choose the size of the pattern! No, no, you won't have to draw hundreds of separate straight lines with a ruler....I've got a handy little gadget right here that will help you make those stripes and plaids lickety-split! So let's rummage up the supplies and get started. Here are the steps for making a plaid maker of your very own.
Step 1) Gather up your Materials:
two pieces of wood approximately 4 to 5 inches
wide and 3 to 4 inches tall and no thicker than one inch.
two pieces of bubble wrap- 5 inches
by 12 inches like that used in mailing breakables
scissors
glue that will hold on wood and plastic
big rubber bands (or a hinge with screws and 8 inches of Velcro-see final note)
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Step 2) Cut the bubble wrap into two pieces about 5 inches wide and 10 or 12 inches long. Wrap each of these pieces around a block of wood. This bubble wrap will keep your markers in place when drawing. They are like little pen grippers so you will need them! Secure the bubble wrap to the wood with glue. Now you have two pieces of wood that are wrapped in bubble wrap, right?
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Step 3) Place your pens in between the blocks like so...
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Step 4) Place the other bubble-wrapped block on top of the pens and rubber band it all together with a really big strong rubber band. The pens are sanwiched between the two wrapped blocks. The bubbles will grip the pens no matter what width they are. As you can see here I have used a wide variety of markers for the example above. On this 5 inch block I could fit up to eleven markers! However it is probably better to start with about 4 or 5 markers. Make sure the pen tips are even along the bottom.
Step 5) Once you have the pens inside the plaid maker gadget, just draw with the whole block. Do either freehand sets of lines or align up the first pen along a ruler for straighter lines. Simply drag the plaid maker across the page for stripes and across it again going the other way for plaids! It is soooo simple! I love the freehanded look because it is so casual and "mistakes" are quite all right! This is not a perfect science. For mats and frames you will be trimming off the outermost edges anyway! The set of eleven pens mentioned above made this set of plaids and stripes...
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Step 6) Use the plaid maker on any number of markers. It works with metallic opaque pens on black paper for a formal look...
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or use milky pens on other colored papers like the purple example below...
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Writer markers, brush pens, metallic markers, milky pens, and colored pencils all work in the plaid maker! You choose the style and look you need to finish a page.
Step 7) You can easily make striped backgrounds and photo mats, plaid accents for pages, and even frames! To make a frame, cut a piece of cardstock the same size as your photo and trace around it on a larger sheet of paper with up to 4 pens to make a frame like these...
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Step 8) Use your plaid maker to make silly swirls too!! Simply draw a batch of swirls over and over across the page for a fun kid's background!
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Now you can see all the possibilities for the plaid maker! And I'll bet you don't even have to buy any pens! Let's make some plaid!!
Further Note: Now you can add hinges to this gadget after Step 2 if you like and make it handy to open and close. (My husband's idea!) Or you can go the quick and easy route and use rubber bands like above. The hinges would go on the short ends in the middle. If you use hinges, add velcro closure to the opposite end. Then it will be like a bubble-wrapped door with a hinge! The velcro holds the 'door' shut with the pens inside!
