Oversized Clothespin Photo Display

Materials:
*Oversized clothespin
*Stickers, die cuts, or other embellishments
*Patterned paper
*Thin cardboard (e.g. cereal box)
*Photo
*Mounting tape (or other photo mounting adhesive)
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*Choose a photo that you would like to display, then select paper, stickers, etc., that you feel represent the important aspects of your photo or the event it represents.  For example, my picture was taken on a trip to Rockland, wherein I did some genealogical research and visited a lighthouse museum.  I chose a lighthouse die cut for the museum, vital record paper for the genealogy, a map sticker because our GPS stopped working as we were heading home and I insisted that we buy a map, and a lobster sticker because of our lobster magnet souvenirs and because we took out picture in front of a giant lobster.
*Decorate the clothespin as you see fit.
*Cut the paper so that it is slightly larger than your photo.  Cut out a piece of cardboard the same size and adhere the paper to the cardboard.
*Mount your photo on the paper.  Add stickers or other embellishments, then clip inside the clothespin.

Fun Shapes Crayons

 

     Here's the last of my rainbow crayon party ideas.  You can let party guests make their own crayons for a fun party activity, or make crayons in advance to send home as party favors.

Materials:
*Old crayons
*Aluminum cans
*Inexpensive ice cube trays or shape molds
*Baking sheet

Directions:
*Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
*Separate old crayons into groups of similar colors.  Peel the paper off of the crayons, then place them in aluminum cans, using one can per color group.
*Place cans on a baking sheet and heat for 10-15 minutes, or until thoroughly melted.  The more crayons in a can, the longer it will take for the colors to melt.
*The crayons in a can will tend to melt together into one color.  If you would like to keep some color differentiation, place only a few crayons in each can and keep an eye them, pulling each can out of the oven as soon as the crayons inside have completely melted.  If you would like a more uniform color, however, leave the crayons in the oven a little longer.
*Pour melted crayons into the shape molds.  You can get a multicolored crayon by pouring multiple colors into one mold.  The colors will swirl together a little, though, so pick colors that mix well together.
*Let cool for half an hour or so, then pop them out of the molds and they're ready to use.

Note: Crayon does not come off easily, so any molds you end up using will probably end up relegated permanently to crayon making.  For most of my molds, I used shaped ice cube trays that I got from Dollar Tree for a dollar.  Those seemed to work just fine for making crayons.

Easy Crayon Tablecloth and Melted Crayon Art Cake

    Here's another set of ideas for a rainbow crayon themed party.  If you haven't seen these yet and are looking for rainbow crayon decoration ideas, check out my melted crayon heart garland, my melted crayon decorative bowls, and my melted crayon art.  Next week I'll have the last of my rainbow crayon party ideas, and the week after I'll post a fun photo craft, so stay tuned!

Crayon Tablecloth



Materials:
*Plastic tablecloth
*Cardstock
*Color printer
*Scissors
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*Enlarge the crayon templates below to the desired size and print them onto cardstock.
*Cut out the crayon shapes and glue them to your tablecloth.

Melted Crayon Art Cake

     I don't usually blog about food, but I thought this cake decorating idea was to neat not to share.  I came across the melted crayon cake idea online and thought it would work well with the theme for my party, so when Brian was making my cake I asked him if he could frost it to look like melted crayon art.  I'm including some directions on how to decorate the cake, plus Brian's icing recipe.

Cake decorating materials:

*Icing recipe and ingredients

*Food coloring

*Plastic sandwich bags

Cake decorating directions:

*Prepare a batch of your preferred icing recipe and ice the cake as you would normally, then make a second batch, using perhaps a little less liquid than what the recipe calls for (Brian found that when he added the food coloring, the icing became a bit runny.  You can always add a bit more liquid if the icing turns out to be too dry after adding the food coloring).

*Separate the icing into plastic sandwich bags, as many as you would like to have colors on your cake.

*Add a few drops of food coloring to one of the bags.  Massage the bag with your fingers until the icing is a consistent color.  Add more food coloring if the color is not as dark as what you're looking for.

*Repeat for the other colors.

*Cut off the bottom corner of the sandwich bag.  The larger a chunk you cut out of the corner, the thicker your melted crayon lines will be.

*Squeeze icing onto the side of the cake.

Brian's icing recipe:

Ingredients:

*1/2 cup butter

*1 pound confectioner's sugar

*1/4 cup milk

*1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

*Cream butter and 2 cups of confectioner's sugar together.

*Add vanilla and milk.

*Add remaining sugar gradually until icing reaches its desired consistency.



Melted Crayon Heart Garland

     Here's another decoration I made for my rainbow crayon themed party.  They're rather time consuming to make, but the resulting garlands are really nice (the picture doesn't really do them justice).  For other rainbow crayon party ideas, check out my melted crayon decorative bowls and my melted crayon art.  Also, stay tuned, because I'll have more ideas next week.

Materials:
*Crayons in a variety of colors (I used 20 different colors)
*Waxed paper
*Cheese grater
*Iron
*Scissors
*Heart template
*Metallic permanent marker
*White thread
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*Cut a piece of waxed paper about 1 1/2 feet in length.
*Grate about 1/4 of a crayon onto one half of the waxed paper, then fold the other half of the waxed paper over so the crayon pieces end up sandwiched between the two halves.
*Iron the waxed paper on low heat until the crayon has melted.  Set aside to cool.
*Repeat the procedure for the remaining crayons.
*Trace heart shapes onto the paper using the heart template, then cut them out.
*Arrange hearts in the color order of your choice, then glue to white thread to create your garland.

Melted Crayon Decorative Bowls

     For my birthday party this year, I decided to go with a highly sophisticated theme representative of the fact that I am now one more year into adulthood: rainbow crayon.  Over the next several weeks I'll be posting on the rainbow crayon decorations that I made for my party, so if you have any interest in hosting a crayon themed bash or just like crayon crafts, you've come to the right place.

Materials:
*Glass or other heat resistant decorative dishes
*Crayons in about 20 different colors
*Hot glue gun
*Hair dryer
*Glitter paint and paintbrush (optional)
*Ribbon (optional)

Directions:
*If you would like glittery containers, paint with 1-2 coats of glitter paint, then set aside to dry.
*Cut off the upper 1/4 of each crayon, then, once the dish is dry, glue to the bowl in a rainbow pattern. 
*When gluing, make sure to press the crayon firmly into the hot glue so that it will stick.  If the crayon falls off, let the glue cool for a moment, then gently peel it off the container, being careful to keep the glitter paint mostly intact.
*Once the crayons have all been glued down, layer your workspace with newspaper.  Turn your hair dryer on high heat and aim at the crayons.  Run the heat over the crayons until they have melted to your liking.
*As you work, you may find that some of the crayons slide down off of the hot glue.  If this happens, give the crayon pieces a moment to cool down, then move them to the side of your workspace so that they won't melt and stick to the bottom of your container.
*Set the container aside to cool.  Once it is sufficiently cool, carefully peel off the hot glue and any crayon pieces still affixed to the hot glue.
*Add some ribbon to the top of the container, if you'd like.

Rainbow Ribbon Tank Top

Materials:
*Tank top or other shirt
*Ribbon in an assortment of colors
*Fabric adhesive
*Scissors

Directions:
*Select a shirt that fits comfortably or perhaps is a little loose.  Since most ribbons aren't very stretchy, if you choose a tighter top the shirt may no longer fit correctly once you have added the ribbon.
*Arrange ribbons along the shirt until you find a pattern and spacing that you find pleasing.
*Cut ribbon so that it goes across the shirt from seam to seam.
*Glue the ends of the ribbon to keep them from fraying.
*Glue the ribbons in place.

Note: If you would like to use a shirt that stretches a little, glue down the center of the ribbons to maintain their position on the shirt, then set aside to dry for some time.  Once the glue is reasonably dry, put on the shirt and glue down the ribbon the rest of the way.  Let the glue dry for at least half an hour before taking off the shirt.  You'll end up with some bunches in the shirt, like what you see with the blue and purple ribbons on my shirt, but it shouldn't be an issue when you're wearing the shirt.

Favorite Photos Rainbow Tote

Materials:
*2 6"x6" fabric squares in each of the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
*Iron on transfer paper
*White fabric
*Iron
*Color printer
*Sewing machine
*Fabric in a color/pattern of your choice for the inside of the bag, the handles, and the straps
*Scissors
*All purpose adhesive (optional)

Directions:
*Sew together three squares, one red, one orange, and one yellow.
*Repeat with the other three squares in those colors
*Repeat twice more, this time using the blue, green, and purple squares.
*Sew together one of the strips of red, orange, and yellow and one of the strips of green, blue, and purple.
*Repeat with the other two fabric strips.
*Following the directions for your iron on transfer paper, print out your photos and iron them to your white fabric.
*Cut out the photos, leaving a white border around them and arrange the photos on your rainbow fabric pieces in a pattern you find pleasing.  Sew or glue down your photos, being mindful of where the seams will be sewn together and of where the handles will go.
*Cut out a piece of fabric equal in size to the rainbow fabric pieces.  Position the fabric pattern side down, then align the one of the rainbow fabric pieces on top of other fabric with the colorful side facing up.  Sew together the two fabric pieces.
*Repeat the procedure.
*Cut out two strips of fabric about 1 yard long and 1" wide.
*Fold over the edges slightly and sew down to prevent fraying.
*Sew or glue the handles to the bag.
*Fold over a bit of fabric at what will be the top of the tote bag and sew down.  Repeat for the second fabric piece.
*Cut out two strips of fabric about a yard in length and 1" in width.
*Fold over the edges slightly and sew down to prevent fraying.
*Place the fabric pieces one on top of the other, with the rainbow side facing inward.  Sew together the sides of the bag.
*Cut two strips of fabric about 2"x12" and sew together, pattern side facing outward.
*Turn the tote bag fabric inside out and sew the 2"x12" rectangle to the bottom of the bag.  This step can be a bit challenging, so take your time with this step.

Note: there are other, perhaps easier ways to make a bottom for the tote bag (see here for one example).