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Crayon DIY for Valentines Day and Why I am NOT Doing it

broken crayons

We have all seen those cute Valentines Day crayon crafts on our social media feeds. Last year I decided that I would be the mom that was rocking maternity leave and would make over 50 Valentine’s at home with my (then) 4 and 5 year old kids. Let this be a warning to you all, if you are going to do anything like this there are consequences and perks.

I always stock up on arts and crafts stuff and crayons are no exception. I also have a ton of broken crayons in my house and this seemed like the perfect way to put it to use as the kids refuse to use them. This was supposed to be a way to get them to not only tame the clutter but learn a life lesson that home-made gifts were great.

I set them to work to peel all of the broken crayons and sort them into piles because I am a great believer in child labour. That was great and everything was going well. They were quiet, too quiet it seems. When I went to check on them they had not only peeled all of the broken crayons, they continued to peel the brand new, in-the-box crayons as well.

broken crayons

After what seemed like an eternity we started to bake the suckers. Its not that this is a long process but we only had a few molds of 6 and when you need to do over 50, and wait for them to harden in between batches, things start to get extremely hostile. I tried to put my kids to bed and they told me I ruined their Valentine’s Day! WHAT?!?

melted crayons

After I finally bribed them to bed with promises of Hershey’s Kisses and a trip to Bulk Barn, I stayed up well past midnight to finish those suckers up as to not disappoint the kids anymore.

And you know what, they turned out fantastic! No lies, they were an awesome Valentine, but this year the kids are getting store bought cards because I am no longer on maternity leave and have no reason to be rocking anything.

DIY Crayons

The guilt I felt from being away from my kids while working is no longer around and I can space out my awesomeness in small spurts. BUT, if you want to try out these wonderful DIY crayons here is a quick tutorial. Go on, be awesome, but do it while the kids are asleep 🙂

DIY Crayons Molds for Valentine’s Day

  1. Preheat oven to 250 ° and get the kids to start peeling those crayons. If they do it it will take forever but a tip I figured out is if you use a x-acto knife to run down the sides of the crayon it will make the process faster.
  2. Put your silicone molds on a pan and fill with the crayons. I like to sort my crayons into like colours but totally up to you.
  3. Bake the crayons until melted, anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes depending on the size of your crayon pieces and the mold.
  4. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from molds.
  5. Attach to some cutesy card and send out to your children’s class 🙂

Valentines Day Crayon DIY

Hope you try them out as they are awesome, just not for me. I would much rather be using my oven for cookies and cakes than crayons 🙂

 

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Aneta Alaei
Aneta Alaei

Aneta is a Toronto-based mom of four that loves a good meal, great company, and learning something new. In her free time, you can find her trying to keep yet another plant alive.

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20 Comments

  1. February 3, 2015 / 2:16 pm

    “…things start to get hostile” LOL! I am totally going to try this, but just for us at home. 🙂

  2. February 4, 2015 / 1:49 pm

    They are crazy to argue with and they know how to get their way with me Julie 🙂

  3. February 4, 2015 / 4:29 pm

    For the first time ever (and I’ve been a SAHM for 5 years), I’m making these! I used a chocolate mold from the Bulk Barn (cheaper) and heated up the crayons in cans with a pot on the stove. With the help of The Kids I’ve already made a bunch and they turned out so well. They do take a fair amount of time to sort, tear off the paper and cut up small. Their school friends (here in Mexico) will be so impressed!

    You’re a super mom whether you make anything or not!

    Besos Sarah
    Journeys of The Zoo

  4. February 4, 2015 / 5:49 pm

    That is a smarter way of doing it for sure. I just really should have thought it out before I started on the endeavor for sure 🙂

  5. Cody Pfoh
    February 24, 2015 / 11:19 pm

    i love this idea great project

  6. Jo-Anne Pfoh
    February 24, 2015 / 11:32 pm

    you are a great mom i never went to this much of an effort lol

  7. February 25, 2015 / 11:42 am

    Hahaha I will never do it again Jo-Anne

  8. February 25, 2015 / 11:42 am

    So time consuming

  9. jamie hall
    June 14, 2015 / 5:48 pm

    wow these look really cool

  10. Caroline
    June 30, 2015 / 4:02 pm

    I would have never thought of doing this! I would have loved this as a kid.

  11. Jo-Anne Pfoh
    July 5, 2015 / 12:14 am

    omg too cute. You have way more patience than me for this stuff. I would never have attempted it in the first place lol

  12. mrdisco
    July 6, 2015 / 11:58 pm

    i haven’t seen this craft before – very cool!

  13. Judy Cowan
    July 13, 2015 / 2:16 pm

    They did turn out great and it would be a good use for broken crayons. Will I get around to trying it…no promises there…lol!

  14. Debbie Bashford
    July 15, 2015 / 7:11 am

    what a great DIY!

  15. Lisa Gore
    August 11, 2015 / 11:13 am

    I love this idea I think we will do it for christmas presents for grandma 🙂

  16. Julie
    August 13, 2015 / 7:29 am

    These are absolutely adorable…going to try them, I think! Better start preparing myself for the process…:)

  17. Amy Lovell
    August 24, 2015 / 7:20 am

    These are so awesome!! I think these would make great gifts!

  18. Victoria Ess
    September 11, 2015 / 5:51 pm

    Those are so cute!! Haha your story had me laughing out loud! Poor you!

  19. Treen Goodwin
    October 26, 2015 / 3:14 pm

    wow its super cool , but lots of work and seems quite messy lol .thanks for sharing !

  20. Amy Lovell
    November 4, 2015 / 6:46 am

    Oh I forgot I wanted to do this! Will def have to start making lists of things I wanna do so I dont forget!