How To Create Personalized School Supplies

Think back to the best parts of elementary school. Chances are, you've got visions of papier-mâché volcanoes and construction-paper Valentine's Day cards. That's because getting crafty with your own two (somewhat sticky) hands was among the most engaging, stimulating and just plain fun things you could do as a budding student.

Now that you're on the parenting end of the equation, it's time to get a head start on the glue sticks and pipe cleaners by starting your little learner off with some DIY personalized back-to-school supplies. Whether you are getting hands-on with Shrinky Dinks®, decorating a folder or creating a custom lunch box, these simple crafts will give your child's school supplies some extra flair while helping them stay organized.

Whether they're on clothes, backpacks, or pencil boxes, labels are essential for keeping track of your kid's belongings at school—but there's no reason they should be boring.

Enter Shrinky Dinks®, a fun way to create personalized labels for school supplies. If you are new to the craft of Shrinky Dinks®, this classic involves sheets of thin, flexible plastic sheets that you can draw, color or print on. The magic happens when you cut out your creations and heat them in an oven. The plastic shrinks, transforming your designs into hard, durable color-rich pieces, which are perfect for creating a wide variety of items such as jewelry, keychains, ornaments, and, of course, personalized labels or decorations for school supplies.

To get started, track down some PDF line drawings of quirky characters online--cats, monsters, aliens or whatever your little one likes. If they're uncolored, have your child choose what colors will fill them in and bring them to life. Customize them with your little learner's name in a bold font, and print them on white shrink film with your Canon PIXMA TS9521Ca Wireless¹ 3-in-1 Printer, the all-in-one crafter’s printer that offers versatile paper support for all your creative projects. Cut out the printed designs, pop a hole in their tops with a ¼-inch hole punch, and bake them according to the shrink film's instructions. As the shrunken characters cool, place a heavy book over them and you'll end up with colorful, keychain-like labels that you can use to personalize just about anything. Some simple ball chains from your local jewelry store will keep them secure, even through playground tumbles. If you need more inspiration, a quick search for homemade Shrinky Dink® ideas will get your creative juices flowing.

Have a priceless piece of artwork drawn or painted by your soon-to-be student? Use that as inspiration to make a personalized lunch box. Simply print a high-resolution scan (your PIXMA printer will figure out the right settings with Auto Scan) and decoupage it to the front of a plain lunchbox with a bit of rubber cement and some clear coat. That sense of pride is guaranteed to make peanut butter and jelly taste better.

To make a personalized pencil box, opt out of the boring plastic box in favor of a photo memory box. Let your child pick and print their favorite 4-inch by 6-inch photos (pets, friends and vacations work great) to make their pencil box special.

Every student needs plenty of folders, but off-the-shelf designs aren't very exciting. Get your scholar excited about school by sharing unique folder design ideas. You can start with an online search for folder decoration ideas and encourage your child to come up with their own designs for folders inspired by what you find. Need something to try right away? Try creating themed photo collage covers for each folder your child needs—a collection of paintings for an art folder, covers of favorite books for a writing folder, or a hodgepodge of wild animals for a science folder. Make the crafting process interactive, informative and hands-on by picking photos on your smart device, and with the Canon PRINT app², send them wirelessly¹ to your Canon MegaTank G3270 Wireless¹ All-in-One Printer. Then let your little one decorate their folder with what works best for them.

When your kids design and create customized school supplies themselves, those supplies become more than just tools—they become miniature works of art, conversation starters for classroom friend-making, and portable points of pride that help young minds become enthusiastic about the learning process. Whether your kids choose to personalize lunch boxes, create eye-catching Shrinky Dink® labels, or give their folders a makeover, you can rely on Canon’s crafter-friendly printers to deliver on the printing side of things.