homemade crayons

Having seen an idea for do-it-yourself crayons here on Pinterest, I decided Eli and I needed to make some for Valentines Day goody bags for his preschool classmates. The tutorial I saw used hearts, but I thought stars made a lot more sense for crayons - 5 points per crayon!

I went to Michael's and bought two 64-ct boxes of crayons ($1 each) and a Wilton silicone star baking mold ($6 with coupon).

First, we had to soak the crayons to get the paper off.

The soaking time will vary based on the strength of the paper adhesive. I soaked these overnight. There was a little bit of scrubbing required, but mostly the paper came off without issue.

Next, I broke the crayons into 4 or 5 pieces per crayon and mixed them up in a bowl.


Then Eli and I filled each mold about halfway up with various blends of colors.

We baked them in the oven at 230 degrees for 20 minutes. Then we took them out and let them cool for about 45 minutes to an hour. Then, we very carefully peeled the sides away from the points (the benefit of silicone), one at a time and then popped them out of the mold completely.

And here is the finished product!

crocheted joy

Here are a couple of the things I've crocheted recently:

Retro-style winter hat


The hat is a basic beanie. The challenging part for me was the flower. My Mama taught me to crochet, but I've never learned the "lingo" of the craft. So I cheated. I made a long chain, then added two rows. I attached it to the hat by starting in the middle and tying the bottom of the chain on, through the hat, top then bottom, all the way around. Once that was done, I took some yarn (since the flower was all the same color) and tied it about every two inches. The parts where it's tied blend right in!

For the chain itself, the first row was every stitch, then I skipped every other stitch on the second row. That makes it curl around naturally. The second row is actually the bottom of the flower - the row tied down.

Scarf


I made this using two skeens of very soft multi-colored yarn. I cannot stress counting your stitches enough! (If you don't want a lop-sided scarf, that is.) Once I was satisfied with the size, I cut 30 equal size pieces and tied them to each end. They fray beautifully!

etsy

I've finally gotten my etsy site up and running. I'm selling my handmade cards here:

Madison Hollow

:)

my craft haven

I have all of my crafting materials and tools stuffed into the two feet between my bedside and the wall. Until I have a dedicated craft room, this is it. It's squished, but it is mine, and I love it. This area is my escape when life gets crazy and I need to medicate myself with creativity. Also, it is an outlet for my organization sickness :)

father's day

Our gift to Jim for Father's Day:


Ingredients: paper, triple flower punches from stampin up, shadow box frame, embellishments, adorable picture, love :)

crafting joy

I recently ordered some goodies from Stampin Up, out of their summer mini catalog. Here are a few of the things I've been working on:


These are a couple cards I made using two different triple-layer flower punches from Stampin Up, cardstock, and Stickles.


This is a little travel folder I made for Jim and I to keep track of places we want to go. We have so many places we'd like to see and things we'd like to experience, and this is a cute way to keep the lists. The supplies I used here were cardstock, twine, a binder clip and the newest travel stamp set from Stampin Up.


These cards are not finished yet. One of the items I got in my recent order was a crop-a-dile for setting eyelets and such. These two cards are the result of me experimenting with it. But they will get finished soon.

I'm also working on a special Father's Day gift for Jim, but I'm not done yet. I'll post pics as soon as it is :)

a conversation

Me: "Eli, do you want a little brother or sister?"
Eli: "Uh huh."
Me: "Do you want Mommy and Daddy to have a boy or a girl?"
Eli: "A boy and a girl."
Me: "Oh, so you want Mommy and Daddy to have one of each?"
Eli: "Uh huh!... ...and a puppy."