Today we put up our Christmas tree.
In keeping with the Christmas tree theme we made melted crayon Christmas trees.
Last winter I saw the idea to draw with crayons on a warm surface and we had a lot of fun with it but we haven't done it in awhile. Its kind of addictive to draw with crayons on a warm surface as they melt the crayon glides along and the colors blend. Here's what we used for this project.
We used a flat griddle like this one:
Before you start you will want to peel the paper off of a bunch of crayons in whatever colors you would like to use. Set the griddle to the lowest setting and I covered mine with a piece of foil. The foil slid around a lot so next time I'm going to try taping it to the griddle handles. Let the griddle get warm then put paper on top of the foil and start drawing. We used regular white computer paper. It helps the crayon melt better if you hold it in one place and press for a few seconds then once its warm it will glide across the paper.
Now on the lowest setting the griddle gets warm so I very closely supervised the boys and told them only to touch the crayons.
They liked experimenting with setting the crayons on the paper and letting them melt too.
As they melt the crayons mix together and make a stained glass effect when the finished product is held up to light. I cut out Christmas tree frames from construction paper and taped the cooled crayon drawings to the back.
We have a few more melted crayon drawings that I'm going to try making into ornaments too. I'll post what I come up with.
Shared on:
playing with words 365
No Time for Flashcards
Creative Jewish Mom
I Can Teach My Child
I have never done this and need to try it asap. It turned out so well and looks way more fun than crayon shavings ironed on wax paper. I am pinning this right now. I would love you to come share it on our Best of November link up
ReplyDeletehttp://toddlerapproved.blogspot.com/2011/11/best-of-november-link-up.html
Thanks for the invite. I just linked up. Jessica
ReplyDeleteAwesome!! We don't have a griddle. I'm thinking I might try this on parchment paper and place it in the oven. Thank you for the idea. I love your blog. I'm your newest follower. (actually I thought I was already following you but I couldn't find you in my blog list. But now I am definitely following you)
ReplyDeleteWould love to see you DIY Home Sweet home.
Jamie
http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/
P.S. I have a linky every Monday. Would love for you to stop by and link up.
Lovely idea. I'm going to try it on clear acetates rather than paper to see if we can get a real stained glass effect. Sadly don't have a griddle but hoping I can improvise
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments. If you don't have a griddle I think a cookie sheet warm from the oven would work too it just wouldn't stay warm so you'd probably need to put it back in the oven between drawing. you just need a warm surface to put the paper on.
ReplyDeleteThis is ADORABLE! I'm going to pin this for sure. I'd love for you to stop by and share this (or another great activity) at my new Thrifty Thursday Linky Party this Thursday!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.playingwithwords365.com/
Also, I LOVE unplugged play, its one of my FAVORITE books! ;)
Katie
Loved this and featured it as part of my Best of November round up today. You should stop by. Thanks!! http://toddlerapproved.blogspot.com/2011/11/best-of-november-round-up-and-little.html
ReplyDeleteThis is really cool :) Stopping by from thrifty thursday linky party. I am now your newest GFC follower. I hope you get a chance to stop by my blog and follow back :)
ReplyDelete~MiaB
www.mamamiasheart2heart.com
great project, now I want to do it too! thanks so much for sharing on Craft Schooling sunday, hope to see you again in January after the party resumes from a month of December vacation. all the best!
ReplyDeleteWe did this as kids with my Grandma. But a little differently. We'd melt little pieces of crayons right on the foil over the hot plate and then press index cards or just pieces of cardstock into the little pools of crayon and it made these awesome swirly marbled designs. I love how you did this with the Christmas tree shapes...so cute
ReplyDeleteJessica is my granddaughter and I have to say, it wasn't a hot plate, it was a warming tray. It was a long time ago and she was little and I think she thought it was a hot plate, because it still got hot enough to melt crayons and little fingers. We used popsicle sticks to move the cards around.
ReplyDelete