Valentines

So, here we are again, getting ready to make Valentines. Last year I tried to be on top of it so I would still have time to get ready for the birthday celebration. This year I had the same philosophy. I found some great ideas on Pinterest that I was excited to do with Madelyn.

For her friends at school, I needed to find something that was individually wrapped, and I decided I wanted to try to avoid candy because I knew the kids would get a bunch of that as it was. So, I searched for a creative idea and found the perfect solution...homemade heart crayons!

The first thing I needed to do was locate some used crayons. Here's a big shout out to Grammy and Zona who quickly found LOADS of crayons for us!

The second step was my least favorite...peeling the crayons. Madelyn started out being a big help (as always), but she soon realized that it was no fun, and quite frankly, hurt your thumbs. So, she crawled up on the table (literally) and gave herself the title of "Crayon Boss." Basically this meant she was in charge of handing me the crayons to peel. Oh, and she colored with the crayons while I was peeling. She also scolded me when I tried to reach my hand in the big bucket of crayons. Apparently that's only a job for Crayon Boss.

"Crayon Boss"

After I peeled the crayons, Madelyn sorted them into bowls so it would be easier to later do some color-matching.

Then we had to cut the crayons into small pieces so they would fit better into the heart pan, and would melt faster. Madelyn, again, thought this looked like fun, but soon realized it was hard work breaking these crayons into pieces. Fortunately, Daddy walked in as we were just getting started and he mentioned he had a tool that would help make this job easier. YAY! He gave me an exact-o knife and boy was he right! He and I had those crayons chopped up in no time!

We did one test run to make sure we knew what we were doing. And we were amazed at how cute it was! We quickly filled the pan, and popped the pan back into the oven.

We had it set to 275 and let them cook for about 12 minutes.

The end result is absolutely adorable! The crayons all turned out great, and the personalized cards made them even cuter! (I found the personalized cards on etsy for 2 bucks.)

"Valentine, you color my world."
This one was made especially for Grammy & Papa!

The last step was having Madelyn write each of her friends' names on the back of the cards. We went through the list and as she read each name, I asked her which crayon she wanted for that student. She picked out the crayon, and then we picked a coordinating card to go with it. I added three glue dots to each crayon so it would stick well to the card, while she wrote on the back of the card. This step afforded us the best time together as we sat at her craft table! 

I am quite pleased with the end result and am happy the kids will have something more than candy this Valentine's Day. (Not that we don't like candy. We do. We just like to be different. wink)