Melted Crayon Ornaments

In our family we mainly give gifts only to the children.  To uncles, aunts etc. we donate to charities and organizations in their names.  However, we like to include a handmade keepsake so this year the kids wanted to make ornaments.

When we were children we drew on paper hot plates with crayons and loved it.  This memory was brought back by seeing Wee Warhol’s (http://www.weewarhols.com/) recent Instagram photograph, exploring crayons on candle warmers and we wanted to give it a try with our children.  (Of course, this is an activity intended for older children with direct supervision and guidance, based on your discretion- enjoy carefully!)

Materials

• Candle warmer
• Wax crayons (with the paper removed)
• Lids (we used these inserts from the granola cups for yogurt from Starbucks)
• Watercolour paints (and water to dilute if you like as well as containers)
• Scissors
• Paint brushes
• Ribbon
• Pencil/paper
• Watercolour paper
• Glue gun
• Silver paper (You could use heavy duty tin foil alternatively)

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.  Trace around lids to form circles to fit on your candle warmer surface.  Cut them out.  You will need two pieces per ornament.

• Lay your paper circle on the candle warmer and apply your crayon.  We found allowing a few seconds for the paper to warm and applying pressure to the crayon produced the best results.  Your child could wear an oven mitt or a work glove if you feel more comfortable with that.  Carefully remove your paper with a butter knife to avoiding touching the warmer.

• Paint over your crayon designs with watercolour paints.  Allow to dry.

• Cut out your ornament caps from your silver paper.  (Remember you will need two- one for each side!)  You could either fold the paper to make two exact copies or as our son did- make one, cut it out and then use it as a tracer for the second!  (These are the times I am most impressed with my child’s ingenuity!)

• Glue your caps to your ornaments.

• Cut enough ribbon to make a small loop and then glue it to the back of the ornament.  Glue your other ornament on top so that the caps line up with each other.  Trim the edges if need be.

• Allow your ornament to dry and then hang it on your tree or string a few of them into a garland.

Purpose

• Exploring various kinds of resists.
• Recognizing seasonal/ celebratory symbols.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use the candle warmer, glue gun and scissors with care and direct adult supervision/guidance.  (This is not an activity intended for younger children.)
• Cord, yarn, ribbon etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.