Twig pencils are fun, easy and cheap to make. And the expressions on your friends’ faces when you start scribbling with a stick will be writetious!
YOU’LL NEED
STEP 1: Find a twig. Look for one with interesting color, texture or with a forked shape. (The length of the twig, though, must be straight.) Hold the twig as you would a pencil to find the right size. Use pruning clippers to trim away unwanted parts. Check the twig for bugs (you don’t want any).
STEP 2: Clamp the twig to the edge of a workbench or piece of plywood. Be careful! Too much pressure can crush the twig.
STEP 3: Use a scratch awl or the point of a nail to make a dent at the center of the twig’s end. The dent will become the starting point for the drill bit.
STEP 4: Drill to a depth of 1 to 1 1⁄4 inches. Make sure to keep both hands on the tool!
As you drill, you may need to back out the bit to clear wood chips from the drill’s flutes (its spiral grooves). To do this, stop the drill and scrub the bit with an old toothbrush.
STEP 5: Squirt a small puddle of glue on a scrap of wood or cardboard. Roll the end of the lead in the glue, then work it back and forth in the hole to spread the adhesive.
STEP 6: Trim the lead by breaking it sideways against the twig. Let the glue dry overnight.
STEP 7: Sharpen the pencil with a sharp utility knife or pocketknife. Whittle away from your body, removing thin shavings as you work around the pencil. Use your imagination to personalize your pencil, or simply enjoy the colors and textures that nature provides.
tried it didn’t work
That is pretty creative.
cool, i just might try this. before lead was used in pencils, ( today graphite ) they burnt the tip of the sharpened twig to make charcoal then they wrote with that.
Thats pretty cool
What else can you use to make a pencil?
cool
I think that you could go to a writing supply store and buy the fattest “lead” (graphite) that you use to put into mechanical pencils for refills, that would work for these, wouldn’t it? These are very neat! Thanks for a lot of neat ideas for a variety of boys (and dads, and moms….)
looks cool I have to try it.
to put an eraser on it: take a eraser off another pencil and glue on twig pencil.
This looks fun. i’m going to try it
looks interesting to do
this thang is awesone
I’m gonna do this…oh and you could just remove the lead/graphite from a pencil. 1. remove the eraser 2. poke eraser end with nail 3. when lead starts to loosen, pull out from writing side….pretty simple
looks like fun
looks fun
Here is a eser way. Whittle a stick burn the end bingo you have a pencil. This is very cool.
:/ :p 
Could you make a point and stick it in a fire?
Yes, but you would have to keep charring it.