Art Projects
Valentine's DayToddlersPreschoolers22 Comments
I’ve seen various ways to make melted crayon art around, so we wanted to make one ourselves using crayon shavings.
Henry, Grandma and I made some pretty art with crayon shavings!
And it was fun to do!
The crayon shavings are what makes this art so pretty, but it also gave Henry some time to work on his fine motor skills.
Henry did his own pile of crayon shavings with the pencil sharpener. He went for the bright, fun colors for his art!
I had Valentine’s Day on my mind. So I picked pinks, purples and red crayons to make shavings out of.
(Note: I used a cheese grater to shave mine, while Henry used the pencil sharpener. The cheese grater was much quicker and easier, but Henry wouldn’t try it!)
How to Make Melted Crayon Art using Crayon Shavings:
Simply sprinkle your crayon shavings onto a piece of paper. I used Pearlescent Scrapbook Paper (affiliate link).
Draw a design in it with your finger if you’d like. I drew a heart, since Valentine’s Day was on my mind.
How to make the crayon shavings stay? Simple. Cover your design with wax paper.
And iron it! Be careful to just press and lift up the iron.
Don’t slide it, the crayon shavings will smear!
Henry drew roads in his crayon shavings. He also tested his roads out…
Again, just lay a piece of wax paper over the entire design.
And press down with a hot iron until the crayons have melted.
Beautiful, huh?
The idea of this came from Housing a Forest where they used watercolor paper and sprayed it with water to get a very cool blended affect. I didn’t have the watercolor paper, so we did it without the water.
Oh, ahem…
We did try the infamous hair dryer method of melted crayon art. It failed miserably by the way.
We first glued down some crayons with hot glue and set the hair dryer on it. A couple of crayons melted.
But even after 20 or so minutes and a preschooler that got bored and left… And even after breaking out a second hair dryer to speed up the process…
… There were still crayons that weren’t even close to melting…
So, my mom and I finished off the process by slapping a piece of wax paper over it and ironing it down to melt the crayons.
Oh well.
There are some beautiful pieces of crayon art that were done with the hair dryer method. Ours just isn’t one of them…
- Dilly-Dali Art created some funky wall art by doing a tape resist version.
- Living Life Intentionally made a cool rainbow design with their melted crayons.
- And here’s a pin from Pinterest that I absolutely love, that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day.
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Teresa says
We used bright scrapbook cardstock. Even on the lowest iron setting our pretty designs just turned into a melted blurred mess. If I put a light tea towel between the waxed paper and the iron, it looked much better, but most of the design came off on the waxed paper. :( I am not good at crafts, but this looked simple enough for me to do. Guess not!
Jennifer James says
My kids used my good grater and I need suggestions on how to clean it. Help!
Jamie Reimer says
Soak it in super hot water.
Anne says
First time visit to your blog. Love the creative ideas, and the crayons shavings are pure genius! I have so many little stubs that I save thinking that they'll come of use some day! Thanks for the ideas!
Kristina says
My favorite part of this story when you told us about it earlier was that you and your mom even got bored trying to do it. Craft fail! Your experience and Allie's have made me skeptical about trying this hair dryer melting activity… though it might be fun to try just for humors sake :)
I love what you did end up creating with the crayon bits! Beautiful and the roads are so fun!
JDaniel4's Mom says
These are so pretty! I love the red heart!
Anonymous says
I completely forgot about this project. As a child I would do this for hours! I was probably pretty old because I don't remember having adult supervision at the time… obviously, supervision is suggested, LOL!
Can't wait to do this with my boys!
De tout et de rien: Activités pour le Préscolaire says
So cute! I'll never see my crayons the same way :) We will definitely will try it!
Charlotte: says
Beautiful finished pieces! Would they work in a microwave? Or is that going to make my kitchen explode in a Crayola mess??
Brooke @ Let Kids Create says
This is so cool. I love the fun ways you were able to play with and manipulate the crayon shavings before they were set into place.
The Iowa Farmer's Wife says
Those are awesome! Sorry the hairdryer project didn't turn out! I have a terrible hairdryer so mine would probably turn out the same way. I've never seen ironing crayons under wax paper…that is really neat!
katepickle says
oh I like this idea… much more kid friendly than the hair dryer thing!
Aleacia says
The melted crayon shavings turned out great! And to me the hairdryer method did as well, I wouldn't have know any better if you didn't tell us! Thanks for sharing our melted crayon art! :)
Carrie says
I've been wanting to do this with my kids for the longest time.
Rebekah says
Very pretty!
Crayons shavings look more my speed than the melted crayons and hair dryers. I don't have enough patience for that either.
Whitney says
Very cute idea. My son would be right there drawing roads too. He turns everything we do into some kind of "racetrack" as he says.
maggy, red ted art says
Just gorgeous and lots of fun :-)
Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
PlayDrMom says
Love it! The process and the product!