Color Me Happy

I wanted to do a little something different for Easton's Valentine's this year. 

After several attempts at coloring at home and only ending up with broken crayons I decided I'd try my hand at some chunky crayons for his friends at school. 

To do this, all you'll need is a box of crayons and a mini muffin tin.

I had seen the silicone heart shaped muffin pans but I decided to just use what I had.

 I picked up 2 boxes of 96 Crayons at Joann. 

This made about 50 chunky crayons. 

At $6.99  a box this could have added up but you know I had coupons. 

The first step was the hardest part, or, rather most time consuming.

But, Aunt Kathy and Paige kept The Boy Friday night and I told him if they were bored, they could peel.  So, they peeled.  And peeled.  And peeled. 

God bless them.  They peeled all 192 crayons.

I only peeled about 25 crayons and my thumbs are still hurting. 

Saints I tell you.  Love my kiddo AND help me DIY!  Double bonus!

SO, first, peel all your crayons.

Next break them into thirds or fourths.  Just small enough to fit in the mini tins.

After this, you simply put your crayons into a non stick muffin tin and bake at 275 for 8-9 minutes.

(I did one batch with liners but they made them look messy so I remelted and they look so much better!)

The time will vary depending on how many crayons you put in.

Also, I made my crayons a heaping pile so they would fill up the cups once melted.

Once they are all melted and glossy on top, pull the pan out.  CAREFULLY.

I threw mine in the freezer to speed up the process.

After about 15 minutes you'll be able to see the crayons have let go from the sides of the muffin tin.

At this point, lay a towel across the top of your pan and flip over.

This will prevent them from chipping or breaking. 

Now you have lots of fun multi colored crayons!!!

Next up: Packaging

I didn't want to use typical valentines.  Much too easy.

I found a set of 16 Martha Stewart Coasters in the scrapbook aisle at Joann.

Sturdy, chipboard in bright polka dots.  This would provide a sturdy base for our Valentine's.

Because I don't have a 2 1/2 inch punch, I traced a cup and cut out the red and yellow circles for the middle layer and attached with double sided photo squares.  Also in the scrapbook aisle. 

I created a little personalized happy and used my 2 inch punch and attached them on top.

Next I found a pack of 6 mini notebooks at the Dollar General in the Valentine's Section.

I needed 15 so this needed to be somewhat cheap.

Dollar General doesn't disappoint.

To package it all up I used clear bags and put the Valentine in front, then the notebook, next an individual pack of gummy bears and 3 Chunky Crayons in each.

I tied it up with a little red ribbon with hearts.

Perfect little Valentine for our friends!

These little crayons really are perfect.  I don't know about you, but when we go out to eat, they give us 2 colors.  Normally blue, green or red and YELLOW.  Yellow???  You can't see Yellow.  So that leaves us one color.  BORING.  But these....you've got a rainbow of colors.  Throw a few in your diaper bag or purse with a little artist pad from Joann dollar section and you'll buy yourself a good 10 minutes of fun! 

Happy Melting.

xoxo