Crayons

Last week we had a huge sale on crayons (school supplies) so I bought $2 worth. normally I buy the thicker crayons because Oliver doesn't have the coordination yet to not break them, but they were cheap and I thought maybe they'd work.

they WORK, but they are all over my house. I said I was done crafting for awhile, but now that I see these crayons just all over the place I decided to split them up and try to melt them by color family to make bigger crayons (and less!)


the boys helped me sort... SO helpful.

because they are new crayons I soaked them in warm water for a few minutes to get the papers to come off (after struggling for a few minutes with one solitary wrapper) anytime the wrapper was resistant I tossed it back in the warm water. these are not Crayola, but a cheaper brand and they SUCKED getting the wrappers off. the few Crayola crayons we had sort of melted in the water, and the wrappers fell off after about a minute. i had to scrape the other brand off after soaking for 20 minutes.



set the oven at 275* and checked it at 5 minutes. these crayons weren't melting and it took almost 15 minutes and it was BAM! so they may have gotten TOO melty.



I don't know, I don't think they turned out too well, but they re still better than having those little crayons everywhere.

I put some in a larger muffin tin (and mixed the colors) but I'm afraid that they really are going to be brown. but I don't think Oliver will care. they look cool, and kind of came out of the tin easily. I put them in the freezer ana ll but two came out.




I like how they look like colorful Reese's miniature peanut butter cups. Landon was disappointed he couldn't eat them.

They will test them out tomorrow :)

AHOY Maties!

AH! the pirate ship was far more awesome than I thought it would be! I really think I nailed it, and I'm being modest. Oh sure, it could be improved, but nothing is perfect!

I'd just like to RAVE about Krylon plastic paint. it truly is amazing. my pirate ship is a little bit scratched up, but the cozy coupe sat for 7 days and it's seriously bonded with the original color! it's not going to get pulled off with use. AMAZING.

What do you think? do you think I'm full of it :)


here it is at the Beaufort Pirate Invasion in Beaufort, NC.


I used brown Krylon plastic paint (and a textured Krylon plastic shimmery black for the inside) and then a Sharpie marker to paint in the woodgrain. Like the name?


Oliver really liked it :)


we velcro'd the parrot to the top

used a galvanized flange from the hardware store to stabilize the mast, but ultimately we had to use some rope to tie it around the body of the wagon to keep it from bending in the wind.


The boys tested it out before I put the anchor and the woodgrain on :) it took me 10 minutes to make their costumes. I already had Oliver's pants, and I made vests by tracing a tshirt.

Hello blogosphere!

Good morning! I am hoping to add some crafts I've already completed here, but also to keep tabs on my awesome progress in crafting. why do you want to read? because I'm awesome and you know it.

I'm currently working on painting older plastic outdoor toys.

our first was a Cozy Coupe. whenever I tell someone what we were doing, they'd say "what is a Cozy Coupe??" it's that little classic red/yellow plastic Flintstone car every single child has :) we have 2, both used.


Cozy Coupetastic!

Landon wanted it to be an Optimus Prime VW.


next to me beloved VW!!!

I think Oliver's will be the Batmobile!

The coolest thing we are doing is turning the Radio Flyer plastic wagon into a pirate ship! (I can't take credit for the idea -- I saw it on Craftster and became obsessed) We are heading to a Pirate festival this week on the coast, and the boys are really getting into the pirate spirit. I'm going to make vests and striped pants this week too. anyways, it's a lot more time consuming than I thought, just trying to get the sail anchored. I put the sail on this morning and my HOURS of work with the pvc pipe were in vain. it snapped off at the base. I think maybe shortening the pipes a bit and using sisal to tie it down on four sides will help, but who knows? it's an experiment. I considered appliqueing the skull on, but thought spray paint would be more fun. I was right. I really like it :)




I still need to touch up stuff and fix the PVC. the paint has to sit for 7 days but it's not going to get time to do that. i bet a sharpie will cover any red that shows up :)

In more family news, the boys are trying their best to be as crafty as possible. I love that in Landon's head I can make anything (and sometimes he says "well, could you just BUY IT?" ) and he's starting to recognize if it means I can be crafty, there is probably something in it for him. I set up a craft room (our guest room and about the size of a closet) a few weeks ago and we spent a lot of time in it last week. we did some reptile themed crafts that were kind of fun :)


but don't let the baby around acrylics. they are too tasty! mmmm tastes like a clothespin alligator!