Crazy crayons are a ton of fun and not difficult at all. Just ask my boys:)
We started out with a load of dull and broken crayons. Several years worth...no kidding!
Then I got out some heart shaped cupcake foils that I bought on sale last year and put them on a cookie sheet. Hind sight is 20/20 but if I'd have thought about it I'd have put aluminum foil underneath them to catch the few little bits of crayon that missed the hearts.
We then went to work getting the paper off. I found out really quick that a small paring knife pressed into the side of the paper helped tremendously. Just be VERY careful!!!
We worked until there were an assortment of colors in every heart two layers deep. And I will add here that the smaller pieces, say about an inch long worked out the best in the end. But really it doesn't matter all that much. I set the oven for 375 degrees and when it got up to temp I stuck them in for 8 minutes.
I guess because there were an assortment of brands the melting speed was different for each one. I did notice that the ones on the ends melted faster. I took the cookie sheet out and set the ones that hadn't melted enough on a different cookie sheet and stuck them back in the oven until they had melted down enough. Just a bit, maybe a minute or so.
You can see that not all of the crayons are going to be completely melted. Ok... I set the cookie sheet on a hot pad for a few minutes to let the heat subside. I took a toothpick and pushed the crayons that didn't melt down into the melted ones so it would be kind of even. Then I stuck it in the freezer. I left it in the freezer until the whole crazy crayon was cooled and the sides were pulled away from the foil. Maybe 7 or 8 minutes or so.
Then I took the crayon out of the hearts and turned them upside down. TA-DAA!!!
So you can put it in a little clear plastic bag with a label that says "I'm CRAZY about being your friend!" or "It's fun having a CRAZY friend like YOU!" For right now that's all I can think of. Leave a comment with your suggestions. Kid friendly of course!
Have a fun and !loving! Valentine's Day!
