DIY Faux Leather Pen & Pencil Cases Made With A Cricut Explore Air 2 ⋆ The Quiet Grove

These DIY Faux Leather Pen & Pencil Cases are probably the easiest Projects I have made with my Cricut Explore Air 2.

Did you know that Cricut has a whole library of amazing Make it now projects? That's right, Cricut has a TONs of amazing projects just waiting for you to make them. With the new Design Space, you can easily search Make it Now projects according to Theme, Project type, and even Material Used. These projects are great for if you are new to crafting, or are looking for a gorgeous already designed project.

To show you how easy Make it Now projects are I am going to walk you through making one. Recently I posted about a fun Faux Leather Nature Notebook. I wanted to make a case for drawing pens but didn't want to sit down and design one myself. So I searched through Cricut's Design Space Library to see if there were any Make it Now projects and not only was there one it was made out of Faux Leather as well so it would go perfectly with my Nature Notebook!

When considering a Make it Now Project the first thing I look (other than what Materials are needed) is the difficulty level and estimated time the project will take. This is found right under the picture when you click to check out a make it now project. While I don't always mind harder projects (heck some of my own designs are intricate and time-consuming to make) sometimes I want to make something quick and easy. That was the case with this Project which is why I was happy to see it was marked as Easy level and less than 30 Minutes.

6 Things Each Make it now Project has:

Crafting Level
Estimated Time it takes to make the Project
Brief Description of Project (and final project Dimensions)
Needed Materials & Tools
Instructions (Prep, Cut & Assembly)
A list of any fonts/images the Project uses and whether they are FREE or require additional cost to use.

Once you decided on your Make it now projects you have 2 options: You can customize it (this opens the Design Space Canvas for this project) or if you like it as is, then click the "Make it" button. I liked the Pen and Pencil cases just as they were so I clicked to make it now.

The Materials Needed:

Cricut Explore Air 2 (or other Cricut Cutting Machine)
The Make it now Project (click here to access the Leather Pencil Case Make it Now File)
2 12 x 12 Sheets Cricut Faux Leather (in desired Colors)
Strong Grip Cutting Mat
Scissors (I like to use the Scissors from my Cricut Tool Kit)
Pens and Pencils to put into the cases

When they said this project was easy, they weren't kidding. Literally, all I had to do is put the first 12x12 sheet of Cricut Faux Leather on the Cutting Mat, Set the dial on the Cricut to Custom for the Materials (and set the custom material as Cricut Faux Leather on my monitor) Then load the cutting mat into the Cricut and click the Cricut button to cut. Then when the Cricut was done cutting, I peeled the mat off the leather (the cut was perfect so I didn't even need to use my scissors to trim anything.). Lastly, I loaded my pens into the first case tying it shut with the cut leather cords. I then repeated the process with the second Leather sheet to make the pencil case. It was quick and easy and turned out just how I wanted!

Like I said this was probably the easiest Make it now project I have made. However, I have found that even the more complex and time-consuming projects are made easy in the fact that they are carefully designed by experienced crafters and offered with sufficient instructions to help you make them yourselves. Whether you are an experienced Cricut crafter or just beginning you will love these Make it Now Projects.