Art Time – Oh the things You can do with Melted crayons

Our Thanksgiving tree (find the pattern here) was up and ready to go, one week before Thanksgiving:But no autumn-themed scrapbook paper to make our leaves from!  Target dollar spot, you really let me down this year. I checked other places too – and could not find a single (cheap) autumn pattern anywhere – sigh.  I just love those scrapbook leaves. 

Ah well, this was a great opportunity for an art project I’ve been meaning to do for ages – coloring with crayons on a warming plate. 

We used scrapbook scissors (pinking and scalloping) to cut leaves from white cardstock; covered our little cup warmer with foil because melting wax tends to leak through paper, even cardstock; put the leaves on top of the foil and slowly drew with the crayons.(I do not have a warming tray, but this little cup warmer works great for small projects like these leaves.  You could also use a cookie tray taken from a warm oven, but make sure little hands don’t get burned!)

The crayon melts as you draw and begins to glide across the paper.  There’s something very relaxing about doing this!  M enjoyed it so much, he stopped making designs and began to just color entire leaves.  The smooth movement and the deep saturated colors on the paper put him into a sort of trance. :)  I think this would be a great rest time activity!  After he was done we turned the warmer off, crumpled up the foil, and were done.  No mess, which is always a plus, right? :)

Our leaves (mostly):

 

We also made some great little autumn shapes by melting old crayons and pouring them into cookie cutters… this is always fun because it involves SMASHING crayons with a hammer or piece of wood, or whatever you may have lying around that would make a good smasher. ;)

Sort:

Smash:

Melt and pour:

Let harden, then pop out:

A little wax leaked out the bottom of the cookie cutters, but everything turned out okay.  Still, I would use the flexible, non-stick muffin trays in place of cookie cutters, if you have them.

Have a beautiful day! :)