Got Crayons?

We've had all these crayons since Sela was about 3 years old.  And this doesn't include the full boxes -- that we actually use.  I honestly can't remember buying a single crayon.  Where did these come from? 

This is how it is at our house.

Today we took out all the broken crayons.

We peeled off any remaining paper.

 We separated them by color, put them in Ziplock bags, and pounded them a little -- to get smaller pieces.

Because we have (meltable) heart-shaped ice cube trays and not metal pans in which we can bake & melt the wax, we dumped each color in a paper cup.  We *carefully* microwaved each cup -- one at a time.  In our small microwave, we started with 45 seconds, stirred with a popsicle stick, and added 15 second intervals and stirring until there was mostly liquid wax and a few small chunks.  Most often, it took only one additional setting of 15 seconds.  I wanted to be very careful not to scorch the cup... or worse.  (Now here's where I have to be totally honest.  I really make stuff up as I go along.  "Sure, let's try it," is something I say... pretty often.)

We poured each color into the molds. 

When they were completely cooled & hardened we popped them out.  We smoothed the sides by coloring with the edges a bit.

We put them into bags, stamped a little tag & used a colorful pipecleaner as a twist-tie -- perfect for little hands.

 Happy Valentine's Day!

Love's Sweet Glow

Several years ago, we gathered with friends and made these sweet candles.  (Now that I think about it, we made them in one friend's newly remodeled kitchen!  I was so nervous melting wax in there!)
We made them for Mother's Day, I think, but these two I pulled out today would have been very sweet as Valentine's Day gifts.

1.  Gather teacups & saucers from thrift stores (the back of your cupboards, your garage...)

2.  Tie wick (available at most all craft stores, or in my case, my garage) around a popsicle stick or skewer and dangle into cup so that it reaches the bottom.  The stick will lay across the top of the cup and hold it in place while the wax hardens.

3.  Melt beeswax in a pan/bowl double-boiler.  Use a thrift-store bowl because it will always be a "candle-making bowl" after this.

4.  Pour into cups & let them cool.

Valentine’s Day + Math = Fun

We belong to a math co-op where our children enjoy math in such fun ways. No worksheets or flashcards here! They play, they fold, they craft, they discover.
I thought of our math friends when I found these fun Valentine-making instructions. I liked the magic message cards, folding hearts, heart-in-the-fold Valentine, bonbon-filled hearts, and origami hearts.
 

Sela decided to make Gnome Sweet Gnome Valentines. There’s math here, too: fractions, multiplication, measuring, addition, subtraction. It’s all good stuff!


And what Valentine’s Day would be complete without sweets? Cooking is a great way to do math -- wouldn’t you agree? I can’t decide whether we’ll make whoopie pies, cupcakes for Cupid, window pane hearts, conversation heart fudge, or sweet fortune cookies. Hmmm… Or should I say, “Mmmm!”?