Be Mine and a Homemade Crayon Tutorial

Valentine's Day was SO last week...but I took pictures on that day, so I must blog them. :-)




 

The children made heart crayons to pass out for Valentines' Day this year (they have a surprising amount to pass out between cousins and church friends!).  We made three batches before I forced them to call it quits.  The entire dining room floor was covered in crayon wrapper bits- it was time.

Then they raided the scrap basket for fabric bits and stapled (we are Martha Stewart like that) it up.

A few weeks prior to Valentine's Day I overheard a conversation going on in the backseat of the car, basically re-living all the Valentine's Days the two biggles had seen (SO many.) and deciding which was the best.  I thought it was funny that they remembered all the silly little Valetine-y things I had done.  Then, when they had both picked their favorites Corynn sighed and said "Isn't it awfully special that Mama makes us each a Valentine?" and Andrew said something like "Yeah.  I can't wait to see what she does for us this year."

This conversation struck me because:

#1 Valentine's Day hadn't even crossed my mind at that point, and more striking-

#2- they CARED that much.

I mean- they TOTALLY noticed my (little) efforts and, it turns out, APPRECIATED them.

Talk about refreshing. (Motherhood isn't exactly known for its' return of appreciation.)

You'd think that with all that pressure, I would have wracked my brain for a great Valentine idea for them to knock their socks off- but I didn't.  I waited, like I always do, until 10 minutes before I had to give them out in order to come up with something-and QUICK!

 

Nevertheless, their socks were knocked.   I love my children.  So easy to please.

{ How to Make Homemade Crayons }

1) Unwrap all the broken bits of crayons that inevitably break within the first five minutes of opening a new box.

2) Put them in a silicone mold.  The best ones, I have found, have at least one light color (yellow, white, etc) each.  They turn out pretty.  To make SUPER pretty ones, add a few bits of broken SPARKLY crayons.  LOVE those.

3) Bake at 275 for about 8-10 minutes until all the wax is melted.

4) Let cool and pop out of their molds.  

It is a great way to use up those broken crayon bits and a great kiddo craft and a great kiddo GIFT to give.  Win. Win. Win.