My Heart Melts 4 U!

Heart Crayons

Another great recycled idea, this one's been around for ages...

If you are a teacher or have small children you probably have a container of worn down and broken crayons.  These crayons get a bad rap, not sure why, they work just fine!








But there is nothing like a new box of crayons, just ask Barbara Park's Junie B. Jones, 
   
      ...'Even on the very first day of school, I got the only crayons
      that were already used.'  Mr. Scary looked up at the ceiling.   
      'Yes, Junie B. I know that.  We all know that,' he said.  'You
      mention  it every time we color.'  ...'Did I mention that my red
      crayon wasn't even pointy? 'Cause it wasn't, you know.  My
      red was already-'  'Roundy,' said Lennie.  'Yes.  You told us 
      that already.'  ...'Did I mention that my greenie was broken in
      half?' I asked.  'My greenie was just a teensy little-'  'Stubby,'
      said Jose 'Si.  You told us that, too.' 
      (Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! P.S. So Does May)

Our container of crayons were full of stubbies and roundies, so this year for Valentine's Day, my little helper Logan and I peeled all of our crayons, broke them into pieces and melted them into hearts. 


finished product

















Here's a list of supplies and order of operation
1. Crayons
I sorted through ours and only used Crayola brand (different crayons have different amounts of wax, and will melt at different rates.  Best to stick with one kind.)  Peel crayons, break them into smaller pieces and place into molds.  The more crayons used the ticker the heart will be.  Bake at 250 degrees for about 15 minutes.
2.  Heart molds
Purchased at Michael's Craft Store.  The individual cupcake molds were easier to pop the heart out and they cost 12 for $9.99.  The tray has only 6 hearts and cost $9.99.  (Don't forget a 40% off coupon!)
3.  Old baking sheets
Thank goodness I used them, two crayons jumped ship unknown to me and melted all over the baking sheet- glad they didn't land on the floor of my oven!

Baking sheet and molds

4.  Patience
The crayons take some time to prepare- all that peeling.  They also take about 15 minutes in a 250 degree oven to melt.  Then cooling time.  I tried to speed things up by taking them out of the oven and putting them into the freezer, but they started to crack.  I had to remelt, which defeated the purpose of trying to speed up the process- live and learn.
5.  Paper to make the Valentine message and wit... what to write? 
I melt 4 U seemed too gender biased so we went with "You Color My World"- also more age appropriate for my boys.
6.  Double sided foam tape
To stick the heart crayon onto the Valentine message

just out of the water

Here's a tip-  You can easily peel crayons by placing them in warm water.  The wrapper literally fell off the crayons.  This was thrilling to me because now I have many perfect rectangles of colored paper to make art out of- Recycle, recycle, recycle!  The wrappers did not dry flat, they were all stuck together and curled up so I pressed them between pages of a book.

pressed

Jamison and Logan helped to assemble the crayons to the Valentine message and then had fun drawing with their favorite heart.  Jamison choose a green one and Logan a yellow one- of course!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Enjoy, Tracey