I found some really adorable ideas on Pinterest (of course) and this one really stood out. I have thought about making crayons at home before, but the idea of making them hearts and handing them out really seemed too good to pass up. Plus, I saw a pin where someone attached a tag that said, "Valentine, you color my world"! How adorable is that? The other big plus was that my kids liked the idea. We rarely all agree on something, so that is a biggie.
SUPPLY LIST:
- Crayons: if you are doing this just for yourselves then broken pieces around that house are a great idea. We went to the dollar store because we needed A LOT of crayons to make these for a total of 44 kids! (What am I getting myself into?) I found a 12 pack of jumbo fairy crayons for $1 and got 12 packages.
- Molds: This can be a variety of things. I read that using a silicone mold is best since you can pop them out better. If you get a silicone or metal mold meant for baking you can do this craft in the oven. I could not find a heart shaped one the right size but I found silicone ice trays that are hearts. They are not oven safe, but I can do this in the microwave. (So, I thought. This is NOT true. See my fail here. I ended up ordering a silicone mold online since the stores were out.)You can also use candy making mold in the microwave. There are nearly unlimited shaped you can find in these. If you are just trying it out for fun at home you can use regular cupcake pans and just fill them about 1/4 of the way. If you are using metal make sure to grease the mold so they come out easier, but be warned, they may be tough to remove.
- Oven or Microwave.
First things first, you need to take all the paper off of the crayons. I had 2 kids helping and that was a blessing. The other blessing was that since they were cheapo crayons the papers pealed off pretty easily.
Once we started pealing I realized that I bought A TON of crayons. I tend to underestimate my supply needs and have to run to the store so this time I didn't want that to happen this time. One note about dollar store crayons: they come in strange colors. Most of the shades in these packages were a bit strange, but no way I was buying that much Crayola brand!
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| This is like a TENTH of what I peeled!!! |
Next, if your crayons are still completely whole start breaking them apart. When you think they are broken enough, break them some more. You really need tiny pieces to fit them into the molds. If you are using larger molds then you don't have to break so much.
(At this point, if you want the crayons to be all one color or shades of the same color, start separating them. I want rainbow crayons so they are all going in the bag together.)
Next I fill up the mold with the crayon bits. They should be full to just a bit overflowing. As the wax melts it will drip down and fill the empty spaces.
If you have a metal pan put the crayons in the oven on 275 degrees F for 7-10 minutes. If you have plastic or silicone they can go in the microwave for 5-8 minutes. Make sure, either method, the crayons are fully melted before you take them out.
I tried this both ways and discovered that it is actually MUCH better in the oven. When I did this in the microwave the middle ones melted faster and the outer ones stayed mostly unmelted. I ended up having to let them cool, take out the good ones, rearrange the others and do it again. When I did it in the over they were completely and evenly melted in 8 minutes.
*Note, many of them end up looking black or brown or just plain ugly in the try, but then you pop them out they look really pretty. The bottom side turns out much nicer than the side we see when they are still in the mold.*
I tried this both ways and discovered that it is actually MUCH better in the oven. When I did this in the microwave the middle ones melted faster and the outer ones stayed mostly unmelted. I ended up having to let them cool, take out the good ones, rearrange the others and do it again. When I did it in the over they were completely and evenly melted in 8 minutes.
*Note, many of them end up looking black or brown or just plain ugly in the try, but then you pop them out they look really pretty. The bottom side turns out much nicer than the side we see when they are still in the mold.*
You can see here that they melted in the microwave very unevenly. Still, they turned out pretty well.
Let the trays fully cool. At least 10 minutes but up to 30 then pop them out gently. I put them in the fridge to speed this up because I was in a real hurry!!
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| Aren't they pretty???? I love them! |
To finish off the Valentines I bought heart decorated zip lock bags, also at the dollar store. Then I printed out the card to attach:
Valentine,
You COLOR my World!
(I ended up having to this by hand because after printing one of four pages I ran out of ink! Have I mentioned I am really bad at being domestic?)
(I ended up having to this by hand because after printing one of four pages I ran out of ink! Have I mentioned I am really bad at being domestic?)
We put 2 lollipops and a crayon in the bag. I planned to use a hole punch on the bag and note and tied the note on with some red and pink yarn, but well, I suck.
Then...VOILA!!
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