DIY Kool-Aid or Capri Sun Juice Drink Pouch Tote Bag

Steve Jobs said, "My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time."

I treasure time spent with my daughter.  Each year on my birthday I ask for the same thing - her time.  We have built a bear, sang, swam, skated, walked, climbed, colored, cooked - and crafted!

In my Ivy Lane Designs shop, my creations are made from materials rescued from trash and recycling bins.   It only then makes sense that our favorite mother-daughter activity would be crafting together, often from recyclables.  

One year when we were apart on her birthday, I sent her balloons in a box - one of my proudest moments in my handmade gift-giving history.

A super fun project is making a tote bag from juice drink pouches.  Here is how we did it.

JUICE DRINK POUCH TOTE BAG

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 16 drink pouches
• Nylon webbing for the strap, length is your choice (available at Joann)
• Scissors
• A sewing machine
• Nylon thread
• Painter's tape (optional, although it does a nice job of keeping the pouches from slipping while you sew)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Empty and clean your juice pouches.  If you clip the bottom of the pouches, they'll dry faster.

2.  Set your sewing machine to the widest, zig zag stitch available.  A zig zag stitch is stronger, allowing for a more durable bag - and it looks cool!

3.  Overlap the sides of the pouches and sew.  You want to end up with four strips of three.  This will make the front and back of the bag.  

4.  Then sew two rows of threes together.

 Now you have the front and back of the bag.

5.  Zig zag stitch across the top of the two panels to add durability.

6.  Now, add your straps.  Cut two equal length strips of nylon webbing.  Stitch to the inside of each panel.

7.  Now it's time to make the bottom.  Overlap the top and bottom (not sides) of two pouches and sew them together (see picture below). 

8.  Put wrong sides together (silver to silver) and stitch bottom piece to front piece.  Repeat for the back of the bag.

9.  Repeat step #7 to make the two side pieces.  With wrong sides together, stitch side pieces to front, back and bottom of bag.  This is the hardest step.  Don't be afraid to smush the corners.

10.  Snip threads and enjoy your new eco-friendly tote bag!

A variation is to sew the pieces wrong side together.  We like the look of the exposed seams.

A mother's daughter is a treasure.  Enjoy your time together.

♥ Merrill 

Ivy Lane Designs Real Simple Feature

Real Simple magazine included my Valentine's Day conversation heart crayons in their "19 Cute Valentines Day Gifts for Kids."  Who's a HAPPY girl!

Here's what my new friends at Real Simple had to say:  Stamped with messages like “Be Mine” and “True Love,” these handmade heart-shaped crayons are modeled after the classic Valentine’s Day treat. The set of five comes packaged like a box of chocolates—each brightly colored crayon sits in a cupcake liner and looks almost good enough to eat.

Get yours in my Ivy Lane Designs Etsy shop. 

Thanks, Real Simple! ♥

Happy crafting!

♥ Merrill 

A Giraffe Themed First Birthday

Today I worked on creating giraffe-themed party favors to help Kendall (and 40 of her closest friends) celebrate her first birthday.  Kendall's mom wanted giraffe crayon favors in purple and yellow, and the end result was super cute!  By the way, a herd of giraffes is called a tower.  I did not know that.

Nifty giraffe crayons are available HERE in my Ivy Lane Designs Etsy shop.  All of my super duper crayons can be found HERE.

Color on!

 ~Merrill ♥

Vintage Baseball Trading Card Journals

I have been busy making one of a kind journals from vintage baseball trading cards for my Ivy Lane Designs Etsy shop.  The cards are filled with history and just too cool to spend their lives in a box under a bed.  Initially, I considered covering a wall in my son's room with baseball memorabilia, but feared it would be too overstimulating (he has autism).  I decided to make journals so the world can see and appreciate the players from our past.

If there is a particular team that you would like as a journal, just let me know.

Play ball!

~Merrill ♥  

Repurposed Book Purse

Last week I went to lunch with my friend Dee who suggested that I make purses from old hardback books.  I was so excited that I couldn't wait to get started.  The following day I traveled all over, searching for perfect books, hardware and fabric.  Last night I completed my first book purse, created from a 1924 edition of Shakespeare's King Lear.  I LOVE IT!

 
Today I auditioned my new purse around town and everyone thought it was FABULOUS!

I used handles from a vintage purse. 

Even the brass button closure is vintage.

I added a little pocket because I love pockets!

1924 makes it really old.

Now I just need to decide which book to transform next.

~Merrill ♥  

Handpainted Armoire

I have always had a thing for handpainted furniture (click HERE for over 100 examples).  It only then made sense to paint an armoire for my daughter to house her Barbie clothes and accessories.  Even though these days she is more interested in writing algorithms than playing with dolls, she and I still love her little house and the memories tucked inside. 

I bought the unfinished armoire at a big craft store and used inexpensive acrylic paint (the bottles that go on sale for three for a dollar).

 

Happy painting!

~Merrill ♥  

Eco-Friendly Heart Crayon Necklaces

I will look for almost any excuse to use a power tool!  This morning I've been busy making eco-friendly heart crayon necklaces for a Valentine's Day classroom party.  Heart-shaped crayon necklaces are available in my Ivy Lane Designs Etsy shop.

Each heart crayon necklace is handcrafted from 100% recycled materials.  I travel around to elementary schools collecting their broken bits and pieces of crayons.    

Everything is repurposed, even the strings which are made from t-shirts.

Heart crayons are the perfect size (appx. 1.25" x 1.5" - or 3.175cm x 3.81cm) for little hands.  Each necklace comes individually packaged, six to a set, available in my Ivy Lane Designs Etsy shop HERE.

Lola (she was a showgirl) owns seven crayon heart necklaces, one for each day of the week.

Check out all of the super cool recycled crayons available at my Ivy Lane Designs shop HERE.

And, Happy Valentine's Day!

~Merrill ♥

My Favorite Glue

Once in a awhile I fall so in love with a craft product that I can't keep it to myelf.  My current love affair is with the ZIG 2-way glue pen.  My favorite glue for paper crafting, hands down.  It's wet adhesive that goes down blue and is permanent.  If allowed to dry, it becomes temporary (like a Post-It).  It's not runny and it doesn't make your fingers sticky.  Perfect for card making and scrapbooking. It's available at craft stores.  I bought mine at a Joann store using a coupon, natch.  You can also find it on amazon.com.  {I'm not a paid spokesperson ... just really like this stuff}

They come in different sizes.  For my barnyard crayon boxes, that I fill with paper hay and farm crayons, I use the jumbo tip and the fine tip.  I was able to finish 25 boxes, that will be heading to Mississippi, with one bottle of each and I still have glue left over.

Here's a finished crayon farm box, available at my Etsy shop, Ivy Lane Designs.  It's sure to spark any child's imagination!  Super cute barn, tractor, pig, horse, cow and rooster crayons are tucked inside a hand-decorated farm slider box. Each farm box includes paper hay, and measures appx. 4.75" x 2.6" x 1.25". Each box is a labor of love; a collage created from 16 little pieces of individually cut colored paper. Just the barn alone is comprised of seven separate bits. Read about them HERE. 

Here's a video that tells a little more about my favorite glue. 

Happy crafting!

~Merrill ♥   

100th Day of School Celebration

One of my favorite Ivy Lane Designs customers, and all around nice person and Supermom, Donna, requested individually wrapped 1, 0 and 0 crayons to be given as party favors at her son Max's 100th Day of School Celebration.  She let me know what she wanted the toppers to say, and shared with me Max's school colors; blue and yellow/gold.  

I immediately went to work and could not be happier with the end result!  Donna's reaction?  "They look fantastic!!!!!!!!  YOU ROCK!"    

~Merrill ♥    

Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle: Eco-Friendly Map Necklace

Necessity really is the mother of invention.  Finding new uses for old things has always been my thing.  When I was a kid, I would paint rocks and add felt to bring them to life as alligators, or turtles, or ladybugs.  These days I am collecting prescription pill bottles with plans to design a piece of furniture.  [Be sure to watch this space.]

One recent creation from an everyday item is my map necklace, available in my Etsy shop, Ivy Lane Designs, that I crafted from pages of a vintage road atlas.  The necklace currently has over 8,000 views on Etsy, which is quite a lot. 

My map necklace has also been featured on the front page of Etsy several times, which always makes me do a little happy dance.

 
... and it was chosen out of thousands of entries to be a finalist in GOOD Magazine's "Take a Picture of Something Repurposed" challenge. 

Creative repurposing is fun AND eco-friendly!

~Merrill ♥   

A Wig Spin of a Week

When I was a flight attendant for Pan Am, we would call short somewhat harried trips "wig spins."  JFK to Mexico City, for instance, would be a wig spin ... just long and a bit nutty enough to spin your [figurative] wig around.  Now, whenever I have a week filled to the gills with projects and deadlines, I immediately think "wig spin."

Here is my wig spin of a week in review:  This week I ate chocolate for breakfast, sailed past 5,000 sales in my Ivy Lane Designs shop on Etsy (yippee!), was featured in House Beautiful Magazine's 10 Cool Kids' Gifts Under $10 (dinosaur crayons) and Young House Love's Kids' Holiday Gift Guide (people crayons), celebrated 12/12/12, mourned the loss of our microwave, shipped over 100 orders and sang loudly to AC/DC's Back in Black.  My work here is [almost] done.

A big thanks to my beloved for understanding why every waking moment has been spent filling orders, and why our house isn't tidy ... and why the Christmas ornaments remain in their boxes. <big hug!> ♥ 

Yay, 5,000!

 House Beautiful Magazine featured my dinosaur crayons.

Young House Love featured my people crayons.

We celebrated 12/12/12.

 

Over 100 orders are off to their destinations.

 

Wishing you and yours many happy weeks of wig spins,

~Merrill ♥

5,000 Etsy Sales at Ivy Lane Designs

I am proud and delighted to report that today I made my 5,000th sale in my eco-friendly Etsy shop, Ivy Lane Designs.  Pinch me!    

It seemed like not long ago that I was voicing to my beloved how much I was looking forward to reaching 100 sales.  One thousand sounds like a lot, but 5,000 ... WOW!  As a happy-as-a-lark Etsy shop owner, I thank you.  

Be sure to check out all of the eco-friendly goodies, including matchbox party favors (as featured in BRIDES magazine), food journals, drink journals, miscellaneous fun journals, record album journals, the ever-popular recycled crayons and mini jot-and-go journals. 

~Merrill ♥
 

What's in a Name? Creativity, of Course!

When a child's name is spelled out in letter crayons, creativity abounds!  I have been working fast and furiously creating kids' chunky handcrafted letter crayons for a teacher in Virginia who ordered them for her entire class! <BIG HUG for teachers!> They are the perfect size for little hands.  

A cellophane bag, shredded recycled (natch) paper, personalized tag and ribbon are included at no additional charge.  Ready for giving.  Colors are representative.  Big letter crayons make the perfect party favor or stocking stuffer!  Brought to you by Ivy Lane Designs on Etsy. 

Size varies by letter. The dimensions of the letter M, for example, are appx.: 1.75" x 1.6" x .7". CHOKING HAZARD-Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.

All eco-friendly crayons from Ivy Lane Designs are handcrafted from repurposed, non-toxic crayons.  It is never too early to teach our children about helping the environment.

Available:  

3 letter names,

4 letter names,

5 letter names,

6 letter names,

7, 8 and 9 letter names on request, so don't be shy! <winkie face>

Happy Holidays!

~Merrill ♥