Illinois Crafter

Melting Down Old Crayons If you have kids then you probably have an endless supply of broken or small bits of crayons at the bottom of the coloring box. Instead of just tossing them in the trash you can do this easy project in the kitchen with the kids.  All you need is:  silicone molds, these awesome Halloween  Pumpkin ,  Ghost , &  Spiders  came from Micheal's  those old dirty crayons that your kids don't want to use anymore Steps: Peel off crayon labels Preheat oven to 300 degrees place your crayon bits into your molds, you may need to brake/cut your pieces into smaller ones depending on the shape of your molds.  Then place your molds into a cookie tray then place that in oven for about 15-20 minutes or until everything looks melted After I took the tray out of the oven I let it cool for 10 minutes, I then placed the molds in the freezer for about an hour so the can harden up.  Depending on the shape of your molds your new crayons

Hexagon Motif Progress  Here is a small sample of my work with the hexagon motif pattern I worked up last week.   You can find it here- hexagon pattern I will be adding my half hexagon motif and my join as you go method in the next couple of days!!! What I have done so far is make a half hexagon and 3 whole hexagons, but only attach 2 and set one a side to add later. In total I have made 9 regular and 3 halves join at random areas, also started on a second color! Hope you enjoy,  Until Next Time!

Hexagon Motif Pattern: I know there are so many different patterns and tutorials floating around already for a basic hexagon pattern but this is mine. Like any other crochet pattern out there, there is no "right" or "wrong" way to do to it! Here is my personal preference on it: Round 1: Start by making a magic circle, (you don't have to start your motif like this, but this is my personal preference when starting a "in the round" project) chain 1 to secure magic circle ends, single crochet, chain  4(counts as a double crochet and a chain 2 gap), *double crochet twice, chain 2* repeat from * to * 4 more times, double once more.  (You will have 6 clusters of two double crochets and chain gaps)  To end the round, single crochet into top of first double crochet (Second chain of first 4 chains) You can end rounds anyway you want, again this is just my personal preference! Round 2: Chain 2 [always counts as Doubl