diy valentines: crayon hearts

When the girls decided that they wanted to make homemade Valentines for all of their school friends, I was beyond excited. We scoured the Internet looking at all the cute ideas out there, but nothing jumped out at them or me. I wanted something they could be really hands on with, something they made, and something that would be less on their sugar intake.

Then in the dark, I stepped on a pile of crayons in our playroom. Of course, they became a pile of BROKEN crayons. Aha! I knew exactly what we could do for our Valentines. We could make heart shaped crayons for all of their friends!

I know this isn’t a new idea. I first saw it in Family Fun magazine a few years ago, but it’s SO cute! I knew it would be perfect for the girls to make.

First thing you need to do is gather all the old crayons in your house. I found Crayola’s work best. The first batch we just used Dollar Tree crayons and they had a waxy film on them and didn’t really write well. Remove all the paper. The girls loved helping with this. If the crayons aren’t already broken, break them into small pieces. Yet, another step the girls LOVED doing!

I found that separating them into specific color families made for the best looking crayons, but that is completely up to you. Mixing the colors looks really wild too! If you want your crayons to be heart shaped, you will need a heart shaped silicone mold. I found mine in the dollar bin at Target. Or, they are just as cute made using a mini muffin pan. Just to get a little crazy, we decided to add about ½ teaspoon of glitter to the bottom of the baking mold. Then we filled the mold about 1/3 of the way full with the broken crayons.

Place in your oven that has been preheated to 300 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes. The crayons will be completely liquefied when you take them out, so be really careful not to jiggle them around too much or the colors will mix. I put my mold on a cookie sheet just to make it easier for me to pull out of the oven. Place the mold on the counter to cool. It takes about 20 minutes. When the crayons are hard again, pop them out of the mold and you are done! It’s so cool to pop them out and see how the colors blended!

I designed this cute printable to go along with the crayons. Just print, punch a hole and hang.  Easy and adorable!  Now go raid your crayon bucket!

Author Description

laura

Laura Beynon is a former pediatric RN, now wife and stay at home mommy to three very girly little girls. When she isn't playing princess, you can find her at her laptop, planning parties and designing custom invitations and party décor for her newly launched company, Cupcakes and Lemonade. Night owl, thank you Pinterest. Loves, little details, cupcakes, a really good glass of wine and that not-often-enough date night with her hubby.