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A concrete pen holder is a small, heavy desk organizer that keeps your favorite pen standing upright and always where you left it. It costs a few dollars to make. Sam Bucciferro of Fizzy Brick shows the whole process, including the first mold that failed and the changes that fixed it. You build a little foam board box, stand a pen in it, fill it with concrete and peel the mold away a day later.
Pros cast countertops in melamine, but that is overkill for a cube this size. Foam board is cheap, cuts with a craft knife and glues in seconds. Its weak spot is the paper skin. Paper soaks up water, and concrete needs that water to cure hard. Sam's untaped mold lost so much moisture that the glue let go and the walls drifted apart. A layer of clear packing tape fixed it and gave a glossier, smoother face.
The pen itself makes the hole, so it fits your pen exactly. That is also the risk. On the first try the pen set solid in the concrete and never came back out. Wrap the end of the pen in a few turns of packing tape and wipe on a thin coat of petroleum jelly. The tape makes the hole a touch bigger, and the jelly lets the pen slide free. Use a cheap pen for casting, then swap in a nicer one.
The cheapest bag of basic concrete mix at the hardware store works. Most of those mixes contain gravel, which is great for a patio and bad for a two-inch cube. Stones jam between the pen and the mold wall. Rub the dry mix over a screen or a sheet of cardboard punched with holes and keep only what falls through. A sand mix or countertop mix skips this step and gives a smoother finish.
Concrete dust is caustic. Wear gloves and a dust mask when you sift and mix, and work outside or near an open door. Rinse wet concrete off skin right away. Never wash leftover concrete down a sink drain.
For more mold ideas, see concrete molds from household items. Learn how to fix air bubbles in concrete crafts and how to seal concrete crafts, then make a matching concrete catchall tray for the rest of your desk.
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Make a concrete pen holder in a foam board mold. An easy project: about 1 hour, plus 24 hours to dry or set. Materials cost about $3 to $8. You need 16 things, including foam board, printed mold template and spray adhesive. The 9 steps start with attach the Pen Holder Template to Foam Board, cut the Foam Board Mold Pieces Along a Ruler and seal the Foam Board Mold Pieces With Packing Tape.
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Print a template with the outlines of the base and four walls. Sam shares his on the Fizzy Brick website, or you can draw one with a ruler. Mist the back of the paper with spray adhesive and smooth it flat onto a sheet of foam board. The printed lines save you from measuring every piece, and they keep all four walls the same height.
Make the walls a little taller than your cube so you have room to fill to the top.
Hold a steel ruler firmly on each line and draw a sharp craft knife along it. Take two or three light passes instead of forcing one deep cut. Clean edges matter here. If the walls are not square, the mold leans and the finished cube comes out crooked. Cut the base square and the four wall pieces, then poke a small hole in the center of the base for the pen.
Snap off a fresh blade before you start. A dull blade tears the foam.
Cover every face that will touch concrete with clear packing tape. Smooth it down so there are no wrinkles or bubbles, since every crease shows up on the cast. The tape keeps the paper skin of the foam board from soaking up water. Without it, Sam's first mold went soft and the walls pulled apart.
Trim the tape flush with the edges so the walls still sit tight.
Stand the first wall on its line on the base and tack it with small dots of hot glue. Dots set faster than a long bead, so you can build the box quickly. Add the other three walls the same way. Then run glue along every inside seam so the box is watertight. Use a flat base rather than legs. It is steadier and easier to glue.
A mini glue gun fits inside the small box much better than a full-size one.
Feed the pen up through the hole in the base so it stands straight in the middle of the box. The pen is the mold for the hole, so it will fit that pen exactly. Seal around it with a little hot glue underneath. Turn the mold over and stand it on a can or cup, so the pen hangs down inside the can and the box sits level.
Check the pen is straight from two sides. A tilted pen gives a tilted hole.
Wrap a few layers of packing tape around the end of the pen that sits in the concrete. Then wipe a thin coat of petroleum jelly over the tape with a paper towel. On the first try the pen set solid in the concrete. With tape and jelly it slid right out, and the hole was a hair bigger than the pen, so it fit well.
Use a spare pen for casting. It may get scuffed.
Most bagged concrete has large gravel mixed in. That is fine for steps or a patio, but the stones jam in the tight gap around the pen. Rub the dry mix across a screen or a piece of cardboard punched full of holes over a tray. Keep the fine powder that falls through and toss the stones. Wear gloves and a dust mask for this part.
Sift a little more than you think you need. A small cube still takes a full cup.
Stir water into the sifted mix a little at a time until it is like thick oatmeal. Spoon it into the mold and push it down around the pen. Tap the sides of the mold to bring air bubbles up, then fill right to the rim and smooth the top. Leave it on the can, out of direct sun, for at least 24 hours.
Cover the top loosely with plastic so it does not dry out too fast.
Once the concrete is hard, twist the pen and pull it out. Then tear the foam board walls away from the cube. The tape side lets go cleanly and leaves a smooth face. Brush off any loose bits and let the cube dry for a few more days. Glue a square of cork underneath, drop in a good pen and put it on your desk.
Sand any sharp edges lightly with fine sandpaper once it is fully dry.
Keep going
How to Apply Mosaic Tile Adhesive (Weldbond and E6000)
More on this topic, picked for this concrete pen holder for your desk.
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How to Make a Concrete Pen Holder for Your Desk
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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