Upcycled Elastic Notebook Pen Holder

In most cases, thrifty upcycling means making compromises and creating something that perhaps is functional but not very aesthetic, or pretty but not practical. However, sometimes, the stars align and an upcycling project turns out better than anything you could have come up with even with a large budget. One such case is how our old Fortnum & Mason hamper happened to fit perfectly into our pushchair to make a shopping trolly. Another such case is the project I completed today: some upcycled elastic notebook pen holders.

I have a fair number of wide elastic loops that are the waistbands I cut from my OH and son’s underpants when they got too worn out. They’re handy things to have around, for holding files and boxes closed, keeping sets of bed linen together, etc. They’ve proved particularly perfect for keeping my kids’ bedding rolls and sleeping bags rolled up. They do a lot of camping and the bright colours of some of the elastic, and the fact you can write on them with markers, serve as a way to identify their bedding rolls and sleeping bags amongst all the other nearly identical ones in the back of a Scouts minibus. My mother always kept old nylon tights that served similar purposes, but I never wear nylon tights, so never have any old ones!

I’ve been setting up my new Rote Runner Planner this past month – without which I couldn’t function. It’s the only planner that almost entirely matches how I think of and arrange my weekly schedule and tasks. One thing I have recognised is that I don’t complete my habit trackers as often as I should. I find myself trying to remember whether or not I did something a couple of days ago. I think I’ve identified that the problem here is at least in part due to not always having the correct pen with me. I’m looking at barriers in my life at the moment – what is it that stops me doing little things I want to do as often as I’ want’d like to – like taking all my vitamins, doing my physio, having a bath, hoovering… Quite often when you analyse it, the barriers are silly little things, but they are still barriers. Identifying them is the first step to removing them. I’ve realised I’m not filling in my habit tracker because the particular pen I use for my planner (and yes, it has to be a particular pen, that’s part of the barrier) is sometimes in my pencil case on the other side of the room. I think ‘I’ll fill it in when I get up in a minute’, but then when I get up I’m already doing something else and forget. I need the pencil case for the 6-7 coloured pens, pencils and highlighter that are also vital in my planning (I have to colour code things), but I’ve realised that having my one main pen permanently attached to the planner might make a big difference.

I’ve been stuck between paying for something that doesn’t seem strictly necessary and the idea that I can now (with my new sewing machine!) actually make one for myself. However, I know that buying appropriate elastic would probably cost even more than buying a handmade pen holder. I have found some lovely examples from UK small businesses, which I will link to below.

But I suddenly realised that some of these elastic loops were just the thing to make a pen holder, and what’s more they happen to coordinate perfectly with my Rote Runner notebook!

I alternate between their lovely teal and smart navy soft-cover planners, but this autumn I have chosen the gorgeous new purple colour – I love it so much. And how perfect are these elastic bands with the planners? I couldn’t have bought a more perfect match if I’d tried!

When upcycling the elastic, I just cut the fabric of the underpants away, leaving the stitching. You can see the remains of the grey jersey fabric attached to one of the waistbands in one of the pictures above. This is absolutely fine for most purposes, but for my notepad pen holders I used a seam ripper to remove the stitching and last of the fabric from the elastic. To be honest, this took longer than any other part of the process, but they came up clean and neat.

In my stash I found some remnants of cotton fabric, one navy and one a duck-egg colour, and I just happened also to have the end of a reel of the perfect thread to match.

I used this Elastic Pen Holder tutorial which was very easy to follow.

I decided to make three while I was at it, although I only need one. I expect I’ll find a use for the others! There’s enough elastic in one waist band to make two A5-size pen holders or one A4-size pen holder.

I honestly done think I could have done any better if I’d set out to buy materials for this project. And most notepad pen holders like this I’ve seen for sale have either black or white/cream elastic which put me off.

I am really *so* pleased with how these have turned out – for £0 and only a morning’s work! I’m going to get such a thrill from using them, which is why I like practical projects the best.

Here are some lovely examples from UK small businesses, by the way, if you’re after one yourself and aren’t about to get the sewing machine out. I think they’d make super little gifts for co-workers and teenagers too. Click on an image to go to their sites.