Monday, February 13, 2012

A St. Valentine's Day Craft. Gasp.

Fiver and Sally and I worked on their classroom valentines this weekend.  While they painstakingly wrote their classmates' names on a pile of cards, I helped them make a little gift for each of their friends.

Yes, I got crafty.  You may pick up your jaw now.  (And really, it's not so much the crafts I mind, as the mess left behind.)

I saw the idea for remaking crayons out on the internet a couple of years ago and thought it looked fun, but Pinterest jogged my memory and I knew we could do this.

All you need are unwrapped, broken crayons and a baking tin you don't mind donating to the cause of crafting.

Well, I am about hip deep in broken crayons at all times thanks to the ham-fisted grip that Bun and Mopsy use.  Those kids punish crayons big time.  They are also crayon snobs, so Crayola loves me a lot.

You start by taking the wrappers off your broken crayons.  Do yourself a favor and cut them with a utility knife first.  It makes it so much easier to get the wrapper off when it is cut first, especially Crayola crayons.  They use some kind of glue invented for the space shuttle.

(Actually, I should know what they use, since I live 15 minutes away from the Crayola factory and we've been there on quite a few field trips.)

Anyway, this is what you get:


Naked, broken crayons.  Also known as: what I find in pockets destined for the dryer.



Use any kind of oven safe, shaped container and pile in the broken crayons.  I used an old mini muffin tin, although it would have been so cute to use a heart shaped tin.  I did not have one, nor was I searching around to buy one, so round crayons it is!


Make sure you do a nice color mix if you want a tie-dyed effect.  I really liked the way bright pink, lavender, yellow, and and little bit of white turned out.





I love that pinky-purply one in the middle.

 I checked them frequently, but it took about 20 minutes in the oven for all the pieces to melt completely.  I let them cool on the back deck, which didn't take long considering it was 20 degrees outside.

They easily popped out of the pan, and this is what we were left with:



A stack of rainbow crayons.  I think I should make sure I tell the kindergarteners NOT to eat them - even though they are non-toxic.


Tonight,  I'll just pop one of these in a baggie with a valentine and send them off to school in the morning.



5 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:52 PM

    VERY impressed!!

    -Lisa L :-)

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  2. Anonymous6:18 AM

    WOW! For someone who swears off any crafts....you did a great job! I'm with you on the mess projects can leave behind but looks like you found one that minimizes it. VERY CUTE! I'm sure the kids will love them. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fun! And it is not junk. I should have done that. But I would have needed a lot of crayons! We just went with store bought cards w/candy. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aimee, that is great! Especially at my kids school where they won't let you bring in any food due to allergies. My kids are once again the children who don't have any Valentine's to share with their friends. Maybe next year??

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great idea! Filing this one away!

    ReplyDelete

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