Cute crossword holder

Mr. D and I just love crossword puzzles. We started stockpiling them when we lived in Boston, and now we have a huge collection we've steadily been working through. Our favorite place to leave them is in the bathroom. Of course, this creates a huge mess- the newspapers get wet when we wash our hands, they fall off the bathroom counter, pens roll into the sink, etc. It was driving me crazy! So I decided I'd had it. Time to create a crossword puzzle/pen holder.

I measured out our biggest crossword puzzles and cut my fabric two inches bigger than that for extra room and seams. I decided to do one piece for the back, and one piece for a pocket in front. I cut two pieces of fabric for the back and sewed them, then flipped the fabric right side out and inserted double-sided fusible interfacing. I did the same thing with the pocket piece, then ironed them. I closed the pocket piece by folding the fabric under about 1/4 inch and top stitching it. Then I did the same with the back piece, adding two ribbons at the top to hang it on the toilet paper holder. I also added a small loop of elastic to hold pens and then top stitched around the entire project, fastening the pocket piece to the back.

And, tada! Instant crossword holder. Sturdy enough to hold one magazine instead of crosswords if that's your thing. I ended up having to go back and lengthen the ribbons because the tops of the crosswords kept dragging against the toilet paper roll, but now it works great.

I could also see this working with multiple pockets- maybe 2 or 3. Any more than that and it would hit the floor!