you color my world

Yep, it's not even February yet, and we have started making valentines!  I want Emma Jane to "personalize" each of the 24 valentines for her classmates, so we had to start early! 

I've been saving broken crayons for awhile since I'd seen the idea of melting them into new shapes on Pinterest.  When I saw the silicone heart molds at Target, I knew this was the time to use those broken crayons.  While Vivian napped today, Emma Jane helped me take the remaining paper off the crayons.  I then cut them into small pieces and distributed the pieces into the molds.  We put them in the oven to bake at 250 degrees for around 15-20 minutes.  It takes about half an hour for the wax to cool and then they POP right out of the mold! 

Today we "practiced" the personalization and decoration of just one valentine.  I bought a package of adorable doilies to mount the crayons on, but I'm not sure if that was the right choice.  They are very delicate and not the best backing for a heavy crayon.  Emma Jane decorated a separate doily and I glued it to the back of the doily that supported the crayon.  (I mounted the crayon with a foam sticky.)  Emma Jane was so excited to "sign" the valentine and add foam stickers.  When she started tearing apart the hollow heart stickers before sticking them to the doily, I asked her why she would want to tear them up.  She quickly replied, "It wooks just wike the wetter J, just wike in my name!"  Can't argue with that logic!

I put the finished valentine in a clear cellophane bag and added a label that I printed up.  Now, just 23 more to go!  Wish us luck....I'm pretty sure this will take the 15 days left until Valentine's Day!