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Sunday, March 6, 2011

Simplifying Birthday Party Gifts - Pencil Rolls

I am always looking for ways to simplify my life.  As the working mom of 2 busy kids with a husband who owns a restaurant, we are always busy.  One of the things that used to fall through the cracks were birthday parties.  I was always forgetting we needed a present and we had to run into Walmart or Target on the way to the party.  This mad rush always meant spending more than I wanted to and usually resulted in a less than creative present for the birthday child.  Pencil rolls to the rescue! 

Last summer I found this WONDERFUL tutorial to make crayon rolls at Skip to My Lou.  The 7-8 year old girls are all into drawing and coloring, so this seemed a great gift.  However I felt they might think crayons were a bit babyish, so I altered the pattern to accomodate colored pencils.  I found the pencils on sale for $1 at the back to school sales.  I figured we usually attend 6 - 8 birthday parties/school year, so i bought 10 boxes of pencils, just to be safe. 

The pencil rolls are a HUGE hit!  Everyone wants them and the moms are super impressed with my "superior" sewing skills.  If they only knew how easy their were to make.  Just follow the crayon tutorial, but adjust the size of the fabric pieces to 16" x 9".  You will then have 15 spaces for pencils.  12 for colored pencils, 2 for regular drawing pencils and 1 for a Happy Birthday pencil. 

I make 4 or 5 up at a time when I have a free Saturday afternoon and we always have a ready to go birthday present.  Birthday party present stress alleviated!

Linked to
Sundae Scoop
Made By You Monday
Its A Blog Party
Delightful Order
Somewhat Simple
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Tatertots and Jello

9 comments:

  1. I am going to try and do both :)
    That is sooo cute :)

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  2. This is awesome! I just made a crayon roll but I may try it with colored pencils now too!

    ~ Jen @ http://pinstripestopearls.blogspot.com

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  3. I like to give handmade gifts too, but it always surprises me how much other people like them. Seems others like that you take the trouble to make rather than buy something. I'd probably add a small sketch pad with the rolls just so the girls could use the pencils immediately if they wanted to. I've alway wanted to make those rolls because whether thay are with crayons or pencils, they are really cute!

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  4. Perfect idea! My daughter would love this! I've seen crayons, but markers and pencils are more her speed.

    I'd love to have you join in the fun at my For the Kids Friday Link Party. Stop on by! You might even find some fun ideas for yourself!

    http://sunscholars.blogspot.com

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  5. These are so super cute!

    I made a few today after having a look about on the net, I love the bright colours you used, they were the first ones i clicked on. Im not sure how you managed to get yours to sit so flat though :/ talent!

    www.sewsaysyou.blogspot.com

    Hope you don't mind if i 'follow' you (",)

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  6. Tried to go to the link today but it gives me a 404 page. Would love to try this if I can get a good link.

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