Melted Crayon Christmas Trees (or any other shape you’d like)

I know this is not an original idea; I think many moms have tried this at one time or another.  But I thought I’d write about it because it was just so much fun for M.  I first saw the idea several years ago in MaryAnn Kohl’s book, Scribble Art. 

M has been asking to melt crayons into shapes since we made heart crayons for Valentine’s Day.  This kid grabs onto an idea and does not let it go. 

10 months later I finally gave in.  :)

Actually, the real reason we haven’t done it is that I’ve only had heart shaped muffin tins (the silicone kind).  So when I saw some cute tree-shaped ones at Target I grabbed them and one day last week I gave M the good news (you could use cookie cutters, but I felt too lazy to go to all that work, lol).  Boy, was he ever excited.  He spent a good 10 minutes at the kitchen counter going through his bucket of crayons and picking out the ones he wanted to use. 

Like this:

Yep, just hanging there like a monkey, sorting crayons.  Did I mention he was excited?  (No, he wasn’t drinking the Coke in the background, that’s just for Mama, hee hee.)

After finding a variety of colors, with a good assortment of green shades, and peeling off all the papers, it was time to break the crayons up.  M came up with the hammer idea on his own.  Putting them in a plastic baggie first was my idea. ;)

He’s hammering them into tiny pieces in the photo below.  Hammering so hard his mouth is hanging open and you can’t really see the hammer because it’s moving so fast.  This may have been his favorite part:

We pulverized the greens first, and placed a layer of them in each mold:

Then the pretty colored ones were sprinkled on top:
You want these to be sort of thick, otherwise they may break when you pry them out of the molds.  We filled our molds up just a little less than halfway.

We put them in a 150 degree oven for 15 minutes, pulled them out, and as they started to harden, I poked a straw into them to create the hole for the ribbon.  Then we put them in the fridge to finish hardening and to loosen up a bit, for another 15 minutes. 

We popped them out of the molds (all the trunks broke off, darn it), tied on ribbons, and picked out one for each grandmother:

We colored with the rest for a while, and then hung them on our Christmas tree.  Aren’t they pretty?

Honestly, this was such an easy project for me – M did almost all the work, and loved every second of it, from finding the “right” crayons, peeling the papers off, and just about everything else.  All I did was put them in the oven and take them out.  Well, I tied the ribbons too.  But really, as easy as this was, I was surprised at the amount of pure happiness it gave him.  I definitely have to find more (cheap) shaped silicone muffin pans!

Have a beautiful day! :)

 

Book Review – Doers of the Word by Archbishop Timothy Dolan

Archbishop Dolan went from the peace and quiet of Wisconsin to the hustle and bustle of New York City.

In this book, he writes very eloquently about how he has found that God is present both in the stillness of meditation and in the busy-ness of every day life.   This idea really struck a chord with me as I struggle with finding quiet time to reflect and think (and, let’s be honest, sometimes just stare at the wall and wonder about 4 year old boys) in the middle of busy days.

The book is a set of meditations written over time by Dolan as he spent time in his private chapel.  They are short and written in an easy-going, humble, yet shepherdly sort of way, and contain insight and wisdom that I found very helpful in my life as a wife and mother.  He did not write specifically to one set of people, but his thoughts are relevant to just about anyone in any stage of life and living any vocation.

Each meditation ends with a prayer and then a small “blurb” about some tradition of the Church.  These were interesting, but sometimes seemed a bit odd in relation to the meditation just finished.

I enjoyed this book; the only thing I wished for was that some of the meditations were longer so that the idea in them could be more fully developed.  As it was, in keeping them short, some of them felt like what I call “fluff” – a feel-good type of writing that just about anyone could come up with.  Thankfully, most of them held something (or were a good starting point for my own thoughts) a bit more substantial.

You can purchase this book here.

I wrote this review of Doers of the Word for the Tiber River Blogger Review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Oplatki and Advent Calendars. For more information and to purchase, please visit Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.
 
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