Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Painting With Crayons-Bright Snowflakes

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I have LOVED having my children home for the past two weeks and was quite sad they had to go back to school. However, we did quite a bit of fun stuff while they were home. This was one of the fun projects that we made.

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These snowflakes are just colored with crayons, believe it or not!

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They are so bright and vibrant that I’m not sure when I will take them down. So lovely.

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You need to cut out a ton of snowflakes. Trust me on this. You will run out long before you want to stop coloring these.

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I made these with 6 kids ages 2-11 and everyone single one of them loved it. You could use this technique on any shape and even on regular paper as well. However, this week we are going to be focusing on a winter theme so I am just sticking with these snowflakes that we made.

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To make these you simply cover a frying pan with aluminum foil. Heat up the pan while you peel the crayons that you want to use.

I would suggest having the kids kneel/stand on a chair next to the stove. This is just for safety. Having the kids higher up is better as their hand doesn’t get close to the pan when it’s coming down from above. (Now that I’ve warned you, I must also remind you that I had 6 kids, ages 2-11 and not one of us got burned!).

painting with crayons on snowflakes 1

Put a snowflake onto the aluminum covered, hot, frying pan and color. The harder you press on the crayon, and the slower that you move it, the more the crayon melts. It melts immediately and so you are more painting with the crayon than you are drawing/coloring with it. So cool!

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You can even mix colors and see what comes up. You can tell the difference in brands of crayons. Some of them melted into the paper and leached out. While others mostly stayed on top of the paper. It takes a minute for them to dry completely and go hard. You are left with a thick layer of crayon on top of the paper, which is why they are so vibrantly colored! It gives a nice stiffness to them, as well! Just an all around fun project with great results for every age!

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Rebecca

19 comments:

Jeanette said...

That is so cool, they are so vibrant! Thank you for sharing this idea.

Beansieleigh said...

Oh Rebecca, I have to admit that the method scares me, when it involves younger children, but I'll take your word on the safety aspect of this project! I DO LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how these beautiful snowflakes came out though! My son and I have done many plain, but beautiful snowflakes for our windows! I have gotten such wonderful compliments on them too! One woman wanted to remember some of them for her quilt patterns!.. But each year, the paper and all our beautiful work gets ruined in the process of removing, or even in attempting to store them... So, I LOVE that these would probably hold up much nicer, to use again and again, year after year!!.. Yes?!.. What a great idea this is! Thanks! ~tina

RootsAndWingsCo said...

Note to all: This is a method where you do need to be cautious and watchful every moment. You could also use a hot plate and that might be less risky.

Rebecca

RootsAndWingsCo said...

I love how they turned out! I can see how this project would need one on one supervision for the younger crayon painters. Probably only light supervision is needed for older painters. I could see my boys really liking this one.

Happy New Year!!

Katrina

Jennifer said...

They're very pretty! Were you using a high temp or a low temp?

LollyChops said...

What an utterly cool idea!!! I can see so many uses for this coloring method! wow!!!

Corey~living and loving said...

fantabulous! I have forgotten all about melting crayon art. thanks for the reminder. these are beautiful!

Angela Maggard said...

I am totally doing this tomorrow! I LOVE the idea, and I love the way they look! My girls are going to love this, and it will go perfectly with my snow theme!!! Thank you so much!

CitricSugar said...

How cool is that! I will have to remember this one the next time I am entertaining children.

Unknown said...

Oh My Word- I LOVE this idea! We are expecting snow down here this week- what a fun project this will be to get us ready for the white stuff!

~Kimberly said...

What a great idea for kids of all ages! Thanks for sharing!!!

Amber said...

This is GREAT! thanks for sharing. I plan on doing this with my kids sometime and will let you know how it turns out!

Made In The South said...

Looks like fun... I have missed visiting with ya'll. Hope all is well. May you and your family have a blessed New Year.

Shannon said...

This looks so fun, but how in the world did you cut such amazing snowflakes? I've been trying all day and don't get anything nearly as great looking as yours.

avisiontoremember said...

I can't believe that no one got burnt. I have some big chunky crayons that would be perfect for this. Thanks for the idea

Mary/Mommy of 5 said...

We had a GREAT time doing these today. It was a snow day and just the thing we needed to pass some time! Thanks for the great idea!

Made In The South said...

Well..the tree is still up. Guess it will come down this weekend. What a special way to celebrate a birthday. We don't have any Jan. b/days. so I can't use that excuse. LOL.

Sue said...

Love that idea. We have a little portable electric stove that we could use at school to do this.

Lauren said...

We did your project today! My 5 year old got bored after doing 4 or 5, but I loved it! It was the first craft of the year for us!

http://fabulousfreemans.blogspot.com/2011/01/crafting-with-caleb-snowflakes-on-stove.html