DIY Mini Pen Tutorial

I carry a pen with me wherever I go, and because I hate rummaging in my ever-deepening purse for a pen, I prefer to keep one in my pocket. This is great until you sit down and get stabbed in the thigh by a pen. Mini pens are great because this never happens. They’re exactly the right size to fit horizontally in your pocket, but companies seem to think they can charge a premium for half a pen (kinda like buying lingerie).  This is where DIY comes in.  I figured out a way to take your basic Bic Clic Stic pens and make your own mini pens.

1. First, buy yourself a twelve-pack of Bic Clic Stic Retractable Ball Pens (I’ve done the shopping for you–it’s the best deal I could find–if you find a better one, please let me know).
2. Second, wiggle the click part off the pen–this is easiest to achieve by twisting.
3. Third, score a line all the way around the pen with an X-ACTO Knife at the period after med.
4. Snap the pen.  The plastic is pretty brittle and easy to snap, and it should break at the line you scored.
5. Sand a bit of the jaggedness away so it looks nice and purty.
6. Cut the same amount off the ink well. I.e., if you cut off an inch and a quarter of the barrel, cut an inch and a quarter off the ink well.  It’s nice to do this to pens you’ve been using for a while so you don’t waste any ink, and also so you don’t get ink on your hands when you cut the ink well.
7. Stick the clicker back in.  THIS IS HARD, unless you do like I do and shave a little of the plastic off of the clicker with your blade.  The middle of the barrel is slightly narrower than the end, so shaving a TINY bit of plastic off makes it much easier to stick the clicker back in.
8. Voila!  A perfectly sized pen to match a pocket-sized notebook.

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