This is my first year with a child old enough to be in preschool. With that comes a lot of firsts. One of those is having a class full of kids for holiday parties. So as Valentine’s Day rolls around I wonder what I could do that would be cute, fun for him to help with, and NOT involve candy! I’m assuming that he will get more than enough candy from the other kids, not including what he is likely to end up with from his grandparents. So after doing some brainstorming and research, which involve some searching of Pinterest. I decide on crayons. We love art and coloring and I fell in love when I saw this melted crayon heart idea on Buzzfeed. It’s adorable and the perfect way to use up the broken crayons at the bottom of the box. It gets a little tedious because you have to take all of the wrappers off the crayons. But once I got into the rhythm of cutting and peeling, it went pretty fast. It is fun for the kids to help break the crayons into smaller pieces and my boys loved helping pick out some color combos. I really liked the monochromatic ones but the multicolored ones are fun too. The great thing is they are all unique. I had also hoped the find a silicone heart mold but didn’t have much luck outside of ordering it online. But I finally found a heart cookie mold pan in the Valentine’s Day section at Target and while I was slightly skeptical, it was PERFECT! Each heart had a different detail or design which added just another element to the uniqueness of each crayon! I love the way they turned out and think they make the perfect Valentine’s Day Card!
I got the idea for crayon valentines from The Nerd’s Wife, but made a few adjustments. Here is what I did…..
First, I dug through the crayon box and pulled out all of the broken pieces. Beyond that I just chose a good selection from every color group. Then I carefully cut through the wrapper so that it peels easily away.
Next, we broke the crayons into small pieces and sorted them by color. I like to include the neutrals such as brown, black, gray, and white because I think it adds a little something to all of the color chaos.
Then, we let our creative juices flow as we combined colors and picked which colors would go in which mold. The kids loved this part!!
Now, they were ready to be melted! I placed the sheet in a 200 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes. Or until all of the pieces are liquid. Then remove the pan VERY CAREFULLY as it is all liquid and can spill very easily. I love this part because it is so deceiving. I would look at one in the pan and think “Yuck that one just turned out an ugly brown!” or “Those colors didn’t melt well together!” But then when I popped them out the front was a wonderful marbled array of vibrant color. When removing them, keep in mind that the cooler they are the easier they come out. If some are stubborn you can stick them in the freezer for awhile to help the process.
Finally attach it to a card or put it in a cute Valentine’s Day bag. I made a card that says “Hope You Have a Fantastic Valentine’s Day for CRAYON Out Loud!” Then used a little hot glue to adhere the crayon to the card and had Jonah sign them. How adorable! My printable is available here!
We hope you have a fantastic Valentine’s Day full of LOVE!
For another great Valentine’s Day Card idea check out: VALENTINE’S DAY ROCKETS
