handmade valentines

While the husband and I were grocery shopping the other day Ella spotted a box of Princess valentines. She screamed "Cinderella! Princess!" in the middle of the store so I let her hold the box while we finished shopping. When it was time to checkout, Travis and I did the whole "distract and hide" bit to get the valentines out of her hands (if you have kids you know exactly what that is). 

I had borrowed a silicone heart mold from a friend and planned to make some homemade crayons as valentines. It was a really really easy project and they turned out so cute! I can't wait to package them up and give them to her friends.

Here's how to do it:

Peel the paper off of the crayons and break them up into small pieces. Fill the mold with the crayon bits (not too full, you don't want the melted crayons to spill over) and stick the mold on a baking sheet lined with foil (in case any crayon spills over). Put it in the oven at 250 degrees for 10-15 minutes. You'll be able to see when all the crayon bits are completely melted. It's optional but before I put the crayon pieces into the mold I gave each mold a shake or two of glitter. Once the crayons are completely melted take them out and let them cool in the mold on the counter or for faster cooling you can put it in the freezer. Then just pop them out of their molds. And just like that, brand new crayons!

 Here they are cooled in the mold.

 I separated my red, pink and purple bits together and green and blue bits together. You can mix all  your colors together or separate them for a more uniform look. It's up to you!

 I bought some 4" clear cellophane bags at Michaels to package them up in and plan on making a bag topper to attach to the top. Of course this is not only a great project for Valentines, but for anytime you have a million broken crayons lying around. I think her little friends will really enjoy their sparkly crayon Valentines. <3