Crayon Roll

I first heard of these on a friends blog. She was making them for gifts, and I thought it was a good idea. So I did a little digging and found some directions. The kids like them. They can sort colors and arrange the colors in all sorts of patterns. I highly recommend you keep them and all crayons away form heat sources, like the stove. We had a serious accident with an orange crayon and the kitchen counter this evening. OOPS!

I have seen the directions for Crayon Rolls in 2 places. (Skip to My Lou STML and Chocolate on the Cranium COMC) They are slightly different, but basically the same. I have only tried the STML directions, so I can't much comment on the directions from COMC.

If you want a really simple version check this one out. No turning and far less stitching!

1 - 5 X 16 1/2 inch piece of fabric for the outside
1 - 5 X 16 1/2 inch piece of fabric the the inside
1 - 6 X 16 1/2 inch piece of fabric folded lengthwise and pressed for the pocket
ric rac (if desired)
1 - 5 X 16 1/2 piece of vinyl (to keep the crayopns from marking-up the fabric, if you don't use the vinyl, I recomend ironing some interfacing to the wrong side of the lining)
20-24" piece of ribbon or cord for fastening
16 crayons



I bought the box of 16 crayons which are a bit thicker than the standard crayons. I have heard they are harder to find. I found mine at Wal-Mart. The one problem I found is they were really snug to get in and out of the roll, and they are a bit bulky for rolling. When i look at the pictures on both the blog listed above, they either admit they are the smaller crayons, or they just REALLY look like they are. The COMC directions slots are a bit smaller, so I don't even think the bigger crayons will fit. STML says to use the 16 crayon box, but the pictures look like the thin crayons. Maybe in my area the 16 box is only the thick ones. Who knows. Anyway.

Layer the vinyl on top of the right side of the inside lining, then the pocket piece on top of the vinyl. Measure in 1 1/4 in from the side and stitch from top of pocket to bottom, you will want to back stitch at the top. Then stitch every 1 inch. You should have 1 1/4 inches left on the other end. (I purposefully picked a fabric for the pockets that had 4" wide squares, that way some of the measuring was done for me!)
If using ric rac (I used piping on one that turned out pretty nice, you can see it in the top picture) pin it around the edges, overlap at bottom.
Place outside piece on top of pocket and lining, right sides together. Place the tie (folded in half) in the middle on the right side. Ends of tie go towards the center.


Sew all the way around 1/4 inch from the edge. Leave a 2-3 inch opening somewhere so you can turn it right side out. In the picture below I have the opening at the bottom.


Clip corners and turn.
Press (don’t press vinyl with bare hot iron), making sure to press opening to the inside. Pin opening shut and then top stitch all the way around very close to the edge (making sure you sew all layers of the opening shut.) With the ric rac you may have to rip and re-sew a few areas. As you can see, it isn't perfect in the picture.
All done!



SEW (hahaha) what I would recommend is this... if you are going to use the thicker crayons, I would increase the fabric size slightly and make the slots slightly wider. You can see the thicker crayons pull the fabric forward so the outside fabric doesn't lay flat. Also the crayons seem to stick up farther than the pictures on STML. She also said her crayons have a tendency to slip out with the vinyl, so she uses elastic cord and a cod stop instead of a tie (also great for those little ones that can't tie a bow or knot yet) There is NO WAY the thick crayons could slip out. So she HAS to be using the thinner crayons. I was thinking of trying to add a 1/4" to all the slots to accommodate the thicker crayons. It might need a little "head room" at the top for the crayon. Sheesh, this seems to be getting more complicated. Let me just state that it works PERFECTLY fine the way it is. These are just little thinks I want to try and tweak and fix. I do this to patterns all the time. If you try any of this, let me know if it helps/works. If you are going to use the thinner crayons, you might want to try the COMC directions because the slots are only 3/4" wide.

Please let me know how yours turn out and if you made any adjustments.

Pack it all in

I often have great intentions to do fun things with the kids, but sometimes I just get a little overwhelmed by my own ideas. Then either the time will pass, or I try to cram it all into one fun filled day. Last Friday was just one of those days. I realized I had done nothing with the kids for Easter. So I pulled out some sugar cookie dough I had in the freezer and we made some cookies.

I sometimes find it difficult to balance letting the kids be kids and make messes and have fun, and the idealized movie version I play in my head while setting-up the activity. Poor SweetPea and Bubba. There is no way they can know what my head has made-up. It is a good thing we have fun despite my romanticized notions.

Some how they always know I have something fun planned because they show-up in the preparation stage, which is a bad time to show-up. All you get is "just wait," "don't touch," "hold on," "give me a minute," and "not yet" And I always seem rushed and something ends-up a not quite right. This time, it was the frosting. Some colors I just didn't make enough of, some ended-up soupy (which is weird since it was all made at the same time,) and it was ALL messy.

I of course helped the kids. The story in my head had pretty cookies with perfect icing. HELLO- they are both under 5 (Bubba isn't even 2 yet!) What kid under 5 can hold a pastry bag. When I took a cake decorating class there was a significant number of ADULTS who couldn't figure out the pastry bag. (as a side note, even Martha Stewart has trouble getting the "ideal" response from kids.)

We ended-up with two cookie sheets full of cookies. The first sheet I got just about perfect. They weren't under baked or over baked. If only the second sheet could have been so lucky. I completely forgot about it! At some point things clicked in my head, so I ran for the kitchen. I opened the baby gate and reached for the oven and as i took the next step I realized I was stepping ON something and it was not going to let me maintain my course, which would be on my feet. As I am falling I am praying I do not pull the oven out of the wall on top of myself, cuz not only would it be a mess, and expensive to fix and replace, but it would be HOT. A shower of hot sugar cookies is not what I want at the time. But the oven held and I landed in the trash can instead. It isn't very often that you are thankful to land in the trash! The cookies, amazingly, were still edible. The orange that caused the fall, not as much. (yes, I stepped on and rolled upon an entire unpeeled orange. I am not exactly sure how it ended-up on the kitchen floor, but I have a hunch it has something to do with Bubba.)

Later that evening we dyed eggs. I really try hard to not let the kids in on any planned ideas. I keep them in the dark as much as possible that way everything is a surprised. Not to mention, I don't have to be badgered with a millions questions regarding when something will happen. But sometimes they figure it out. This time boiling eggs was the give away. But somehow they managed to wait for Hubbs to come home.
Hubbs and I decided to do our Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. I would like to say it is for some noble reason like keeping the Easter Bunny separate from the the religious reason for Easter, but truly, ore reasoning was purely pragmatic. We just have trouble getting the Church on time. I used to be a punctual person, but I am far out numbered now and I just can't get ahead of the game. So having an egg hunt added to the schedule would not work. Not to mention I knew I would get home Late Saturday evening (I was working at a consignment sale,) so Easter preparations just seemed daunting and tiring.

I remember as a kid running into my parents room as soon as I woke-up to wake my parents so we could get to huntin'. It never seemed that early to me, but now that I am on the other side of the encounter I just have to say "I am sorry mom and dad." I woke-up to SweetPea jumping up and down on hubbs' back yelling "wake-up, the Easter Bunny came and brought baskets and ....." with a detailed list of ever item she had already found. I began to cry from laughter, until SweetPea realized I was awake and switched her attention to me. At which point I begged her to get off before she broke my bladder. I ran to the bathroom laughing so hard at the realization I was living a caricature.

We hid the eggs in the kids playroom. When I rounded the corner of entry to the room I found Bubba sitting in the middle of a circle of plastic grass and basket contents. There were plastic eggs scattered about and chocolate slobber running down his chin. I just hope I remember for next year that we need to make things a little less accessible by the children and maybe set an alarm to wake us up. Things all happened so fast I wasn't even able to get my camera. Not to mention for some reason SweetPea was running around in her underwear, so picture taking seemed a bit odd. We did find all the eggs, I counted twice. And we were still late for Church the next morning.

Sleepy Time

It can be a challenge sometimes to get SweetPea to go to bed. So I made this chart in hopes that is may help things along. SweetPea usually doesn't have as much trouble staying in bed as procrastinating getting there. So for us the "stayed in bed" part includes going with out much fuss. Basically she picks an animal and uses the animal to get to go through the bedtime routine. She can gallop like a horse, hop like a bunny, etc.

I also made this chart to help teach her a little about reading clocks and when her bedtime is. She can compare the chart to the clock above it. When they look the same it is time to start the bedtime routine.

Finally, I have been making some blankets as baby gifts. My mother-in-law has made similar blankets for all of my kids and they are so handy. I thought they would make great gifts. Now I just need to get them to all of their new owners. Some of them have been waiting for a little too long.

Fairy Wings and Tutus

Recently, SweetPea had a birthday party to go to. We thought it would be a fun gift to give her fairy wings and a tutu. So SweetPea helped me to make them for her friend. I have directions below on how we did it.
First we made the wings. You start by taking two wire hangers and breaking the hook off the top. This was pretty easy. I just bent it back and forth until it just popped off.


Then I used some duct tape to tape the two hangers together where I had broken off the hooks.


I then folded the hangers together to make them point backwards a bit. It just looked better than them being flat.


Then I gave them a bit of shape as best I could.


Next i took a pair of Kids tights. I couldn't find adult pantyhose in white. I cut the legs off right where the pantie began. I then slid one leg over each wing and tied them in the center.


Next I cut the leg openings of the pantie off to make "straps" for the wings. I just slipped the loops over the wings. And Finally I tied a big daisy in the center to cover the knot and tape. I added a few extra ribbons and glued smaller daisies to the ends of the ribbon. I think I turned out really cute.


The tutu is really easy. I have made several of these for SweetPea in different colors.


Usually I use a piece of ribbon or elastic, or a bit of both so they slip on and off pretty easily without me having to tie and untie tutus all day long. But this time I used the waistband of the tights I used on the wings. It worked out perfectly.

You simply tie strips of tulle and ribbon onto the waistband. You can buy tulle by the yard and cut the strips, but I personally like to find the tulle that is sold on a roll. It is about 6" wide which is a great width. First you want to decide the length of the skirt. I made this one about 18". So I had to cut strips 36" long because you fold them in half to tie them. You tie them by folding the strip in half and looping around the waistband and pulling the ends through the loop. I took a picture using ribbon because it is easier to see what I mean than to use the tulle.


I usually tie 2-3 pieces of tulle or ribbon at once. Then you keep tying strips all the way around the waistband until the tutu is as dense as you want.
I also found it is easier putting the waistband around my thigh while tying the tulle. I find it fun to come up with themes for the tutu, changing colors, lengths, densities, materials. You can also play with the shape. Varying lengths of the strips or how you cut the ends. The yellow and white one Kiah is wearing with the wings above used about 1.5 rolls. It was not as dense as some tutus I have made, but I thought it was great for a fairy.