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MarilynW Forum All-Star

Joined: June 28 2006 Location: N/A
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Posted: April 18 2009 at 1:29pm | IP Logged
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I am trying to figure out how to have Lyra chubby crayons and color pencils easily accessible to my toddler - so that he can take them out and put them back himself. I really like the NOVA naturals snakebut it is not suitable for the crayons.
Any ideas?
__________________ Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
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Emma Forum Newbie

Joined: Feb 07 2009
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Posted: April 18 2009 at 6:42pm | IP Logged
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We have the crayon caddy from Magic Cabin and it works well for us!
http://charmingthebirdsfromthetrees.blogspot.com/2009/03/gue ss-what-i-found-pip-squeak-lovers.html
Grace from Uncommon Grace also has the caddy and stores the Lyra crayons and pencils in it.
http://uncommongrace.typepad.com/uncommongrace/2009/04/seven -years-old.html
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Mackfam Board Moderator

Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006 Location: Alabama
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Posted: April 18 2009 at 7:16pm | IP Logged
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Link fairy visited.
A link to add...
Magic Cabin Art Caddy
At Michael's there are some smallish boxes with lids in varying shapes back in the craft section - squares, ovals, stars, hexagon, circle - I bought a few of them and stand the crayons and beeswax block crayons up in their own containers. It seems to work well because someone can take a specific container to a work area to work with, but they are all gathered together in a basket on the toy shelf at the end of the day. The little boxes are short enough for the crayons to stick out of the top.
I like Mason jars for color pencils, which btw is not a recommendation for a toddler, but I just thought I'd mention it anyway.
I do like the look of the wooden caddy, but having crayons and color pencils in separate containers seems to work best for us so that individuals can remove individual containers to their table. And, I've been eyeing the little snake from Nova natural for a long time...but I just keep using my little cardboard boxes.
There are a lot of little-ish containers at Michael's that you could use to work that would be fairly inexpensive...or you might take a walk through your pantry or attic and see what you have lying around that might work?
I love all the frugal and thrifty ideas right now...I know all our budgets appreciate it! Brainstorming ideas...
**sour cream containers...painted or have Abby sew a simple gingham liner for it.
**consider cutting out the bottom of a sturdy box of pasta or cereal...paint with mod podge and cover in pretty scrapbook paper or gift wrap paper. You could cut it to fit the size of your crayons.
**have any cans that don't have a sharp edge on them after you open them? paint them or wrap them with paper or wind yarn around them after coating with glue.
**check the kids toy bins...are there any cute small wooden bins that you can re-purpose to hold crayons and color pencils (I do this a lot! )
**do you have a gift wrap bin? are there any smallish boxes in there you could use?
**how about tins? some people have tins lying around as decor...do you have any you could use for crayons and color pencils?
I love the idea of the color pencil snake soooo much...I'm thinking of asking my brother to make one for my little guy. It would be so easy and cheap if you could find someone with a drill press, Marilyn! Just go to Lowe's and pick out a nice piece of oak or cherry, sand it, and find a cabinet maker or woodworker and ask if they could just press a few holes of a specific diameter for you...I bet they'd do something like that for free! It'd be worth asking!
Ok...I'm out of ideas...someone else jump in here! There have got to be some more great ideas for this with you ladies! I just love thinking of new and pretty ways of storage and display for pretty art supplies!!!
__________________ Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16 , ds 11 , dd 8 , and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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MarilynW Forum All-Star

Joined: June 28 2006 Location: N/A
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Posted: April 18 2009 at 7:53pm | IP Logged
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Thanks Jen. You know - I have a caddy similar to the Magic Cabin one (a very generous person on this list mailed me a kit - and Nick and Andrew made it for Matt for his birthday last year) - I like it and Matt uses it, but it holds way too much stuff for Mike. NOVA Natural is out of my budget, but my inlaws wanted to get him a gift for his birthday in July, and so I looked at that with 8 Lyra crayons and 8 colored pencils. But I probably would not have got the snake at that price anyway.
When Matt was 2 I got him just a few Lyra crayons and color pencils - i think we used a yogurt container - and he really looked after his supplies. I guess I can do the same for Mike - the more we have out, the less he uses and the more mess there is
I will check out Michaels too. Thanks for all the frugal suggestions - very in keeping with our family theme right now!
__________________ Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
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earthmaven Forum Pro

Joined: June 19 2007 Location: Illinois
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Posted: April 18 2009 at 8:12pm | IP Logged
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We got the Magic Cabin caddy and it was lovely until both my daughters decided to test their crayon colours on the wood. Now it's just a mess. We also found that once crayons or pencils got shorter, they tended to just fall down into the compartments and get "lost".
We like small empty paint cans around here--you can often get them from hardware stores for practically nothing, and they look so nice and neat all lined up :-)
Tracy
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lapazfarm Forum All-Star


Joined: July 21 2005 Location: Alaska
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Posted: April 18 2009 at 8:32pm | IP Logged
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Target dollar spot has some adorable little galvanized buckets and trays right now. I love those for art supplies.
__________________ Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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missionfamily Forum All-Star


Joined: April 10 2007 Location: Louisiana
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Posted: April 18 2009 at 8:49pm | IP Logged
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Oriental Trading also carries the buckets, in both colors and galvinized silver....they are great for art supply storage....and I love the look of them hanging from mug hooks.
__________________ Colleen
dh Greg
mom to Quinn,Gabriel, Brendan,Evan, Kolbe, and sweet St. Bryce
Footprints on the Fridge
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dawn2006 Forum Pro


Joined: Aug 07 2007
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Posted: April 20 2009 at 9:28pm | IP Logged
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I have a plastic caddy leftover from a Montessori windo washing activity which we loved but broke the mister and strewed the cloths and etc.... We now use it for colors, tape, scissors, and such. It's great!
__________________ Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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melanie Forum All-Star

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Posted: April 20 2009 at 10:48pm | IP Logged
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I made some canisters for colored pencils for my kiddos recently...I used some old food canisters, I think they held hot cocoa mix? They are made out of sturdy cardboard. Anyway, I glued fabric around the outside to pretty them up.
__________________ Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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Marcia Forum Pro


Joined: Aug 20 2007 Location: Illinois
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Posted: April 21 2009 at 2:24pm | IP Logged
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tomato paste cans are what we use for everyday out and usable....I took construction paper and covered each can with it's color to hold that color of pencils. I think I have twelve?
I have the beeswax crayons in their tin to keep miss two year old out of them. It's not as easy to get those out of things...you can erase pencil off of walls. :)
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Jody Forum All-Star

Joined: March 16 2009 Location: Ohio
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Posted: May 04 2009 at 3:52pm | IP Logged
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All of you ladies have such wonderful ideas!!
We use those plastic pencil boxes from walmart to keep special art supplies in. Each of my children have their own colored box for easy differentiation.
Jody
__________________ Jody,
Mom to 10 blessings
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Lisa in WI Forum Newbie

Joined: Jan 10 2009 Location: Wisconsin
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Posted: May 04 2009 at 5:09pm | IP Logged
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Jody wrote:
We use those plastic pencil boxes from walmart to keep special art supplies in. Each of my children have their own colored box for easy differentiation.
Jody |
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We also use these. We have one for crayons, one for colored pencils, and one for markers.
__________________ Lisa,
mommy to E (9/04), O (3/06), C (1/08), & Baby (due January 2010)
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