Kiddo Travel Desk: Thanks MerMag!

Made this on on Monday for Beeper--an uber-handy-dandy travel desk for kiddos. Check out all the cool features...

...handy pockets to hold a gaggle of markers, and anything else you want to zip into a little pocket...

...an applique monogram so your kid will not confuse his travel desk with anyone else's in the car, plus nice button and loop closures for the EXTRA pockets that reside behind other pockets (yes, that's right, pockets on pockets...oh the stuff you can stow...)

...and even more handy pockets on the other side to hold more stuff and a water bottle if you want...

...and while I forgot to take a photo of it, this is the pillow that slides into the pocket on the backside of the desk, under the board that sits in there too. This means you can remove the board and the pillow at will so you can launder the desk when your kiddo spills his grape juice all over it (oh, and did you note the convenient carrying handle pictured in the first photo?)...

And you can make one too! Simply visit Merrilee's blog--MerMag--where you can find her tutorial on how to make a travel desk like the one she made for her own kiddo (see more photos of her desk design here).

I did make some small modifications to Merrilee's design--1) appliqued the desktop initial instead of embroidering it 2)did not make the pockets slotted to hold individual pencils--I wanted my pockets to be deep and big enough to hold a handful of markers or crayons so they could be at the ready for Beeper to color (when you color everything in rainbow colors just 4 crayons will not do) 3) I made my slot for the desk board big enough to accommodate a pillow insert (then skipped the step of creating a stuffed pillow pocket to the desk)--what I love about this particular modification is that I sewed a cotton fleece cover for the pillow insert so it can do double-duty as an actual pillow when pulled out from the travel desk slot.

And I have to tell, you we put it to use last night during our 10 hour drive to central Illinois (doing time with the in-laws), and it worked beautifully--Beeper colored and did dot-to-dots and played with his monster magnets and then ate his dinner on it...this travel desk comes highly recommended by 2 out of 2 moms (um, that would be me and Merilee).