DIY Crayon Hearts

Being a former elementary teacher and a mother of two children, I have a lot of crayons laying around. I mean A-Lot! So, when my daughter's teacher requested non-candy Valentine's this year I knew exactly what we could try - heart shaped crayons. After showing my daughter some different pictures from Pinterest, she was super excited about trying to make them for her classmates.

The first task was taking the paper off all the crayons. I think this part took the most time. I used a small paring knife to slit the paper and then my little assistant pulled it off. This did take quite a bit of time, but it is well worth it!

After removing the paper, we separated the crayons into color groups using coffee filters to corral the crayons. Then we chopped the bare crayons into small pieces. Following some trial and error, we decided that smaller pieces of crayon would work the best. My daughter wanted a variety of color in each heart shape, so the smaller the better. 

I found a silicone heart shaped baking sheet at my local pharmacy of all places. Plus, we were making these pretty last minute so it was on sale. Score! :) Funny little side note...make sure it is a BAKING sheet and not an ICE TRAY. Lol. Let's just say that I didn't read the packaging very well on our first attempt and ended up with a melted mess. Ha! Anyways, we put the little pieces of crayon in each heart. I baked them at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Be very careful pulling them out of the oven! I put the silicone tray on top of a cookie sheet for baking and cooling. It makes it much easier. Let them cool and pop them out. (Tip: Be sure they are completely cooled or they will break when you attempt to take them out.)

They turned out SO pretty! The colors were so GOR-geous and we had used a few metallic crayons too. They were our favorites. Making crayons like these would be perfect for party favors, birthday gifts, or teacher appreciation presents. They can be made in all kinds of shapes which makes it super fun.

We used some colored paper and cut them down to about 3 x 4. I rounded the corners with a picture corner rounder. Then I stamped the cutie little heart arrow from a stamp set I found at Joann's for one dollar. Adorable! I typed up a sheet on my computer with the saying, Valentine, You Color my World. Then cut each phrase out with fancy craft scissors to give them some pizazz. We glued them to the top and attached the heart using embroidery string. I punched two holes in the cards (can't see under the crayon) to secure the the heart. It was tricky figuring out how to get the heart to stay put. Eventually, I slipped these into a clear bag and sealed it with a heart sticker. I didn't want the hearts to fall out and break. My daughter and her friends loved them!

This was a really fun project! It is a perfect way to use up all those broken crayons in your stash and give them new life. I know I will keep my eyes peeled for baking sheets with fun shapes so we can try this again!

Happy Creating!