And another item for the big drive across country! My kids are a little old for this (at least a couple of them may be), but they liked it anyway. The good thing about them being older is that the contents DID NOT end up on the floor of the van. We had tons of snacks, but I wanted the kids to have access to some without me having to dish them out from the front seat. I also tried to keep their items a little healthier than just candy. First at Micheal's 40% off sale I purchased beading storage boxes. Yes, it is worth paying extra money for removable dividers. At first I thought I would need the big boxes - that is a lot of snacks, even for across country! As you can see mine had two rows with five sections in them. Plenty of treats. Not to mention I had more of just about everything so I could fill them up if needed (I only needed to fill them up for the return home). Here is what the three looked like. The boy is picky and won't eat any nuts. His is the least healthy.
I dug out my vinyl, circut, and gypsy (because on the gypsy you can design multiple cuts at once). I decided to pick a cute shape and cut the letters out of it. I also knew it would be easier to apply to the boxes (since I have yet to purchase the transfer paper). Each kid picked out a color from what I had on hand. Some had just their name cut out and some had their name and the word snacks. As I'm thinking about it now if you just put their name they can use them for other things (like those pesky barbie shoes that end up all over the place - we use one of the big boxes for this very purpose). Fill with snacks that your kids will eat. It is great to keep in the diaper bag so you always have a variety. Or in the car for when you are gone longer than planned. Or maybe even in your desk at work. If you have larger snacks just remove the dividers to make a little extra room. Hmmm, I wonder where I put my extra dividers at? Might need to find a home to store those. If you like
this post or are going to use it, please take the time to be a follower
first. I also love hearing from you! Thanks to those who take a little
extra time to leave a comment :)
I was thinking it would be a good idea to have. I can't name how many times my kids have taken their stuff to a sleepover and left it or forgotten to put it back. I thought this would be a good thing to have not only for our trip, but for future sleepovers. I love the idea that if the toothbrush is still wet that it is in something that can not only let it dry, but is washable.
Here is what I did to make them. Buy a 12x12 wash cloth. You can get 2 for $1 at the dollar store. That is what I started with to try it out. When it worked I used a couple I already had at home. The picture above sews every 3 inches. I decided I didn't need a 3 inch section for my toothbrush and made some modifications.
For my son I sewed up the edges first.
From the left edge I sewed another vertical line 2 inches away (this is huge for a toothbrush, you can go much smaller if you wanted), then I gave another 3 inches for toothpaste, and the next section was 4 inches for deodorant. This left 3 inches for a comb. I used a small comb for him so that it fit in the pocket and didn't extend to get dirty from the wet toothbrush.
For my daughters I took a small piece of ribbon. I sewd velcro on the ends so it could form a loop. I took the middle and sewed it onto the edge of the washcloth:
Then I basically followed the same as for the boy. I used a tail comb for the girls so that the comb part fit in the pocket and didn't extend to get dirty from the wet toothbrush (the tail did, but that shouldn't get in their hair or can be easily cleaned before use). After that I attached the ribbon. Since the pockets aren't snug I pictured everything sliding out so I made another change here too. I sewed ribbon on the edge at the middle and at the top. The middle ribbon is 2 feet (I did smaller on the boys and it is a little harder to tie) and 18 inches on the top. I just did a straight seam with the wrong side down facing the outside.
I also heat sealed my ribbon so it wouldn't fray. To do this just run the edge of the ribbon quickly through a flame (candle or lighter). Then just roll it up and tie the ribbons.
After this trip they will be used for sleepovers. Everything they need will all be ready to go. And when it gets wet or dirty, just throw it in the laundry! Gotta love that!
Now that I have traveled here is what I have learned: you can make the sections smaller. If you add more sections you made need to add length to the ribbon closures because they will be adding stuff and that will make it thicker when rolled. My girls found all sorts of things to add and could have used more pockets. My oldest ended up putting her comb behind her toothbrush (not sure if it stayed clean that way because she uses a brush most the time and probably could have left the comb out) and put some perfume where in the pocket. My youngest doesn't wear deodorant so she used the pockets for perfume and body glitter. To think at first I was wondering what to put in all the pockets, the girls figured it out for me. I LOVE the loop to hold elastics. That was very handy.
If you like this post or are going to use it, please take the time to be a follower first. I also love hearing from you! Thanks to those who take a little extra time to leave a comment :)
Well, I survived the drive across country. We left about 5 pm Wednesday night and traveled 2200 miles arriving at our destination by 7:00 Friday night. We are planning on it taking more than double that time to get home. One of those days will be spent at Nauvoo sight seeing. I hoped to do a little blogging while I was here, but my laptop wouldn't fit in the over-crowded car. I even downloaded and edited pictures so they would be all ready to go on it. So far we have had lots of fun with cousins - parks, dinners, amusement parks, baseball games, family pictures - and had the opportunity to attend two wedding receptions. I will only be home a week before I have to go back to school so hopefully I can get some posts done before then (along with the unpacking, laundry washing, school shopping, etc). I hope you are enjoying your summer and will post as soon as I can, but probably not for another 10 days or so.
