DIY Photo Wooden Pencil Holder With Holes

First step is to sand your block down on all sidesmake and make a grid with a pencil on one side of the cube. I made the grid 1 cm (1/2 inch) separation.

Then with the marker make a mark every 2 squares.

You can make a grid in whatever spacing you prefer. Just make sure when you drill the holes, there’s enough space between them.

Prepare the drill with a drill bit. I recommend choosing one slightly larger than a pen. In my case, I started with one I thought it would let a pen fit but I end up using a ½. Either way, I definitely recommend making the first holes with a 3/16 and then using the 1/2.

You might be wondering: Why?

Because going for the thick one first sometimes moves in the first push making the hole a bit off place.

Make sure you are going in at as much of a 90-degree angle as possible and that the bit doesn’t go all the way through. If it does, make a mark with a sharpie so you know the maximum depth you can go.

Start drilling hole by hole. It might not look perfect. We are not perfect, and neither is the wood so, be patient. As you get the holes done you can go and fix those you don’t like much.

Once the holes have been drilled, sand the top again to remove any splintering caused by the drill bit.

When finished, clean your space because it will be full of sawdust everywhere.

I saved all the sawdust. It could be useful on another project… {wink, wink!!!}

Also, clean your block as well.

First thing: Protect the surface with some paper or plastic and work outside or really close to an open window.

Pour some paint on a plastic plate and start painting your block. The good about this type of paint is that the wood absorbs it leaving all the wood design visible. LOVE it!

With a small brush, paint inside the holes too.

You are done for now. Let it dry for a couple of hours close to a window or outside since this paint has a strong scent.

Measure your wooden block well and prepare your photos to print about 1 cm (1/2 inch) smaller than the area of your block’s sides.

If the cube is 10 cm then make each photo 9 cm so the block works as a wooden frame.

You will need 4 photos – one for each side of the block.

Print them preferably with a waterproof dye printer like EPSON or in a professional print shop. The reason is that you need to seal the photos and if the printer dye is water base the photos will get damaged.

Cut each photo.

In a protected place, spray some adhesive on the back of each photo. Aternatively you can use mod podge to glue the photos to the block.

Then place the photos centered on each side of the cube. Let them dry.

And finally, apply a coat of mod podge or your glue mixture with a foam brush all over each photo. This will seal and protect the photos from wearing and sunlight.

Try to clean up the borders of the photo to keep the wood dye color clean.

Let it dry for 30-60 minutes and TADAAAAAA!!!!

There you go! A super adorable and cute DIY Pencil Holder for daddy to keep it always close, in his office, nightstand, or home desk.