Back to school is a weird time isn’t it? There’s mixed feelings of excitement, sadness, wonder, and dread. Well… at least that’s how it has always been for me! So let’s make this time a little more fun with some DIY school supplies mmmkay?

I had probably way too much fun making erasers. I mean, I didn’t even know eraser clay was a THING until recently. But I didn’t have fun until after getting upset and frustrated at my original idea (which I’ve had for months) somewhat failing. See that little diamond eraser there? I was planning to make a bunch of gemstone erasers, but aside from the diamond one, the gemstone molds and eraser clay just didn’t play very nicely together. So it forced me to try get my hands dirty, figuratively and literally, and try some other methods. Life lesson folks – like the mythical Phoenix, great things come out of the ashes of failure!

(Side note, anyone else immediately think of Harry Potter when they see/hear/read the word Phoenix? Side side note, how good is the new book!? WAIT don’t tell me anything, I’m only a few pages in).
So I totally just went all rambo rando when figuring out what else to do. Like seriously I just played around until something happened. So from left to right we’ve got pencil spiral erasers, mold erasers, free form shaped erasers and cookie cutter erasers!The four methods I used were good old fashioned making with your hands, cutting shapes with a cookie cutter, using molds, and rolling it out. Let’s go have some fun friends.

Materials

• Eraser clay (This is what I used and they’re fantastic)
• Pencils
• Exacto Knife
• Silicone Molds
• Rolling Pin
• Cookie Cutters
• Cookie sheet

Pencil Spiral Erasers

Maybe it’s the colours or because they resemble those grippy things that harken back to my elementary school days, but these feel totally 90’s to me, and that’s a good thing (long live the 90’s!).

1 Start off by softening your piece of eraser clay and roll it out into a thin cylinder.
2 Next break apart small pieces of other colours and scatter them on your work surface, then continue to roll out your eraser clay to pick up the pieces and blend them in.
3 From the top (eraser end) down, firmly wrap the clay around a pencil. When finished, carefully pry the clay from the pencil and gently shake it off (it takes some doctor steady) to keep it’s spiral.
4 Place it on the cookie sheet and bake according to eraser clay instructions.

Diamond Pencil Toppers

So as mentioned above, I didn’t have much luck with the molds, so I warn you to exercise some caution with the molds you select. As for the gems, having multiple facets made it too difficult to get all those straight edges, but play around cause you never know what will work.
1 Be sure to press the clay out deep into the mold to get it into all the crevices.
2 Press a pencil 3/4 of the way into the clay.
3 Check the mold from the outside to straighten any edges with your fingers, then remove the pencil.
4 Bake the eraser in the mold, and remove when cool.

Cookie Cutter Erasers

Hint for the cookie cutters – the smaller the better.
1 The eraser clay, at least the one I had, is fairly thin (5cm), so I stacked two clay pieces on top of each other then used a rolling pin to spread it out.
2 Carefully press a cookie cutter into the clay and gently remove.
3 Place on the cookie sheet and bake according to instructions.

Hand Shaped Erasers

So this version is by far the most fun. Why? Cause it full on involves getting creative and playing with clay in your hands. What’s better than that! I really don’t have any steps for this one, other than using an exacto knife to get any clean edges like I did for the taco. Other than that, decide what shapes (or in my case…food) you want to make and GO FOR IT.

So many different options! I could totally see this being a really fun back to school party with the kiddos. It would be so fun to see what they create! And if they do, be sure to tag me in a photo cause I would LOVE to see it! Especially if anyone makes a unicorn.

Happy eraser making!
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