I've been wanting to make crayons with my kids for a while now, and Valentine's Day seemed like the perfect excuse to do it! I bought a couple of silicone heart-shaped muffin pans from the dollar section at Target about a month or so ago, and we put them to use!
Rather than give out candy, I thought these colorful hearts would be a fun V-Day gift. I made up a simple topper you can download below, print off, and let your kids color.
This is a simple project that the kids can really take control of. The hardest part is this:
Peeling off all those papers is not so much fun. My son was not so into it, although he did really enjoy breaking the crayons into pieces. My smart husband thought of using an Xacto knife to slice through the wrapper, which worked really well (that would be an adult job, of course).
Once you have all the paper peeled off, break your crayons into pieces.
And then fill up your muffin tin with your color selections. (This is the fun part!)
When you have your color combinations perfected, put the pans into a 200 degree oven. It should take about 20 minutes to melt the crayons down.
Something I Learned: Those cheap crayons they give you at restaurants and the like are no good for this project. Our first batch had some of those mixed in, and they never, ever, ever melted.
Anyway, when your crayons are all liquified, let them cool for 20-30 minutes, pop them out of the molds, and Viola!
Aren't they purty? And fun to color with too!
We were making them for our friends, but my kids have already picked out their favorites to keep for themselves.
If they go too fast, you may need to make an extra batch or two! And if you want to give them away as valentine's for all your buddies, all you need is some flat cello bags (
I used 3" x 4" like these) and some of my toppers!
Let your kids color them up, write their names on the back, staple the toppers on, and you are good to go!
Happy Valentine's Day!
