It’s almost back to school time, hard to believe that summer has passed so quickly once again.  School supplies, new shoes, lunch boxes, and backpacks are taking up my entire dining room table!

My oldest daughter will be starting middle school this year, and with that she will get a locker that she feels needs to be personalized in a major way.  So last week I went online searching for school projects that would be “cool” enough in her eyes to grace her locker   I came across a project on the Family Fun website for a “locker pocket.”  It was fun, simple, and I knew exactly how I wanted to create one just for her!  Below are the instructions for duplicating this project from Family Fun.

Here are the supplies you will need to create one:

Resist paper (Pink Paislee Mistables)

Distress Inks in varying colors

Paint

Jewels

Different geometric shapes (I used a tag, canvas flower, mistable stickers, and a wooden butterfly)

A brad

Glue and tape

Strong magnets

First I used Spiced Marmalade distress ink on the paper from the Pink Paislee mistable line. I cut a 9″ square from the paper for my base.

Place the square on a flat surface and fold the 2 opposite corners to the center, as shown in the picture below. Fold up the lower corner so the edges slightly overlap the side flaps. While pinching the 3 folded flaps together with one hand, secure them from the inside of the pocket with packing tape.

Apply glue between the overlapped edges and place a heavy book on top of the envelope to keep them flat while they’re drying.

Once dried, apply your magnets to the back.

Then get your embellishments ready for the front.

Here are details of the embellishments minus the tag:

For the yellow starburst I used a Fuzzy Sticker from the Pink Paislee mistables line and inked it with Scattered Straw distress ink.  I then used a large yellow Bazzill brad for the center.  The brad is what will anchor everything down the pocket.

I then attached to a canvas flower that I sprayed with Cherry Metallic Mist from Maya Road.

I painted the wooden butterfly with Organic Garden Glimmer Glam from Tattered Angels.  I love it because it has hints of glitter in it

Layer all your embellishments.  I poked a hole in the center of the pocket to slip my brad through to really hold everything together.  The tag was distressed with Tim Holtz distress ink in Broken China.

Your child can use the pockets to hold school supplies, cds, lunch money, important school papers….the list is endless.

When my daughter saw the end project her eyes lit up.  Now my other two (who don’t even have lockers) want me to make one for them   Of course I agreed!  This is a project I can see myself making year after year.  You can add so much personality to each one too.  Try adding their names, the school year, or a fun saying to the front.  The possibilities are endless!

I would love to see your ideas.  Feel free to post a link here to your fun and crafty back to school “locker pockets!”