JULY 2016 Project of the Month - The Little Artist's Crayon Caddy!

[mtylerfl]

Hello,

This fun Crayon Caddy project makes a great gift for all the Little Artists out there! It features a “giant crayon” handle for youngsters to grab onto for transporting their crayon collection to their favorite art studio area. The caddy will easily hold 140 crayons or so. The two-sided bin allows the child to stow crayons on one side and perhaps colored markers on the other, if desired.

The caddy can be finished/painted as you like. The sample is shown with a special personalized (for my granddaughter) crayon label wrapped and glued around the crayon handle. A clear topcoat finish applied over the label protects it from wear.

I’ve included a PDF file of several color variations of a crayon label for you to choose from. I also included a CorelDRAW file, Adobe Illustrator file, InkScape file and an EPS file for those of you who may own and know how to operate graphics programs that will allow you to customize the label yourself from these file types. The font for the text used on the labels is “Arial Rounded MT Bold”.

Print out the crayon label of your choice on 24# printer paper using a color LASER printer. (Do NOT use an InkJet printout, as the color will smear and ruin your project). You can get your crayon label printed at your local office supply or printer service if you don’t own a color laser printer yourself. The laser toner helps seal the 24# paper (20# is more common - you need to ask for the 24# paper) and the laser toner won’t smear or run when glued and when the finish is applied over it.

The project uses the 1/16" Carving Bit and the 1/8" Cutting Bit. No other bits are required. The overall dimensions are about 8.5" wide x 6.5" deep x 5" tall.

Main items you will need:
1) The Project Files (included):
• Crayon_Divider.mpc
• Crayon_End_Panels.mpc
• Crayon_Front-Back_Panels.mpc
• Crayon_Base.mpc

2) Boards with the following dimensions:
Divider: 0.75" x 7" x 26"
End Panels: 0.5" x 5.5" x 19"
Front-Back Panels: 0.5" x 5.5" x 24"
Base: 0.5" x 5.5" x 15"

Do not use boards that are smaller than specified above unless using an appropriate jig. Larger boards are fine in all cases.

3) Sandpaper, clamps, wood glue, spray adhesive (if wrapping crayon label), stain and/or paint and clear finish

4) A Dremel-type rotary tool with assorted sanding wheels and bits to sand small details. A spindle sander and small belt sander is also recommended to speed up preparation for finishing.

Apply your choice of finish. Here’s what I used on my Little Artist’s Crayon Caddy made from Select Pine:

• Three coats of thinned Bulls Eye SealCoat (2 parts sealer/3 parts Denatured alcohol) on all parts, sanding between coats

• Three coats Krylon clear Acrylic spray

• Applied/glued on paper crayon label using 3M Super 77 spray adhesive

• Applied several light coats of Krylon clear Acrylic spray to seal the paper label

• Applied one coat full-strength Bulls Eye SealCoat over the label and entire “crayon” handle

• Applied two final coats of Krylon clear Acrylic spray overall