When making small custom icons, would it better to use the pen tool or do pixel by pixel? Having somewhat a bit of trouble make them and I don't want to use the PS defaults like i always have. :/
Depends how you make them. What shape you want them etc. If you are making smilies, eliptical marquee with a setting is fine, though the pen tool gets you finer lines etc.
For square ones, pixel by pixel is more of an option because there is a lot of room for error with the pen tool when making square images.