More fun with crayons

We had so much fun with the last crayon craft that we decided to try another one.  It involved melting the crayons again, but this time we used crayon shavings and an iron.  

I told the kids to make a doodle on their paper, because I was thinking that they could put certain shaved crayon colors in different sections of their doodle.  If you try this, don't waste your time with this step.  The crayons ran everywhere when they melted and didn't stay where we hoped they would.  Also, the colors mixed anyway, so why bother separating them? 

After the first few, we caught on.  We just took the mixed, shaved crayon in small pinches and sprinkled them all over our paper

When we were satisfied with the amount of sprinkled crayon, we put wax paper over the paper and ironed it on low heat to melt the crayon shavings.  It was cool to see how the colors blended.  (by the way, a good project for younger kids would be to spread a thin layer of glue over the paper and let them pinch and sprinkle to their hearts content.  Then let it dry and hang it up [no heat or melting!]  The sprinkles alone on the paper looked pretty cool)

Calvin's pretty colors!

Dev's pretty colors!

If I ever do this project again, I would worry less about making a shape for them to "fill in." I would also use lower heat on my iron.  I turned it down to it's lowest setting after awhile, and it worked much better (didn't melt the shavings so fast, so they didn't run all over.), and I would also just "press and lift" my iron instead of dragging it all over the paper.  Press and lift helped keep the crayon in its place. 
It was a lot of fun.  Try it and let me know how it worked for you!

Fun with crayons

 I have a crayon fetish.  I can't throw crayons away. I admit it, and I'm not sorry. Those little waxy sticks of color are just way too useful to throw away.  After the fireworks on the fourth, I was inspired to try a new crayon craft with the kids.  One that would mimic the look of fireworks in the sky.  

In retrospect, I realize we should have used dark colored paper if we truly wanted to mimic the night sky.  I don't know how that would affect the colors though.  

Sorry I didn't take more pictures.  (I think I've proven that when I get too interested in what I'm doing, the idea of taking pictures leaves my mind.)  But I think you get the jist here.  To make  your own crayon fireworks, you need to have a tupperware full of old naked crayons, a piece of heavy paper, and a hair dryer.

Ignore the iron in this picture.  We didn't use it for this project.  What you need is a hair dryer. Also, ignore the messy craft room.  It's still getting unpacked and organized.  Please and thank you. 

Have the kids pick a few choice colors for their fireworks and lightly (very lightly) glue them onto your paper at various points. (glue too thick will get puffy when subjected to heat)  Keep in mind that once the crayons melt, they go everywhere.  Prepare yourself for this inevitability by laying down a table cloth (I have one that I bought at the dollar store that we use for all our messy crafts.), also, only use a small amount of crayon.  We used about 1/4 of a crayon for each color.  The wax, it is runny and you get a lot out of a little.  You can always add more if you want more.  

Let the glue dry a bit, and then set your hair dryer on high heat and blow the holy heck out of the crayons.  We achieved the fireworks affect by holding the hair dryer directly over the crayon and watching it blow in all directions.  But you can adjust the angle of the hair dryer for different blown effects. 

Dev's masterpiece

 The kids LOVED this craft!   They really liked experimenting with the hair dryer and the angle of the air to get different effects.  It was very easy to set up and do, which is another bonus.

Go try it!  And if you aren't going to use up all your crayons, mail them to me!

Look who's crawling!

Iggy picked up a new skill this week.  Time to buy that baby gate!

creative lunch ideas

Dev was inspired by a picture she saw in a magazine of a lunch that was made to look like a butterfly.  She decided that she wanted to try it, too.  (and Calvin is always willing to join in on any of his sister's ideas.)  

In case you can't tell, it's a butterfly over a meadow of flowers.  The tiger and the sheep are eating grass under the flowers.  And actually, now that I think about it, those might be trees.  Oh, and the BBQ chip is the sun.

I love their creativity!  I love that they could hunt through the kitchen and find random things to add as part of the whole idea in their minds.  They are geniuses!  

 

A lunch both pleasing to the eye and the tummy.  Good job, guys!

much fourth of July-edness

I love the fourth of July.  I've stated in other posts that, for some reason, I have the ability to remember fourth of July pasts more vividly than other holidays.

This year, like all the others, is sure to be a fourth of July that I will remember, too.  We  started the day at a pancake breakfast at our church.  They had a flag raising ceremony first (and can I get a woot! woot! that ALL my kids, even Bogey the 4-year-old could say the Pledge of Allegiance?!)

After we raised the flag, they had a bike parade.  Actually, I should back up and say that the night before we were up late decorating our bikes and scooters for the parade.  So, please note the decorations on the bike and scooter.  I went to help the parade participants to their places, and later found several of these little gems on my camera:

They are both so handsome!

Bogey got shy (so rare for him) at the last minute and refused to ride in the parade.  He watched right here from the side lines. 

All the kids are lined up at the starting, waiting for the signal.  Dev and Calvin are on the left.  See them?

Dev was excited that someone threw her a piece of candy

Calvin's just happy to be there!

Bogey's mad at himself for not joining the fun

 The parade was a lot of fun, and it was over very quickly.  Still, my kids rode around the church several more times.

We had a BBQ later, just our family.  That's the way I wanted it.  We made hamburgers and kabobs, but the kabobs were so stinkin' good that we didn't get to the hamburgers until last night. Sorry, I was too busy eating to take pictures of our BBQ.

Just imagine a scene similar to this right here.

In Idaho, where I grew up, it's illegal to buy certain kinds of fireworks.  Particularly the ones that explode in the air.  Here, there is no such law.  I have never been so amazed by store bought fireworks.  Wowza! These people go all out!  We walked to the community fireworks show, and all along the road we were surrounded by "bombs bursting in air"  to the point that I began to imagine how I would feel if I really were in a war zone and fighting for my freedom.  It was very incredible to see explosions all around me.  (and a little intimidating)

Again, sorry, I didn't even think to take pictures at the fireworks show (we made it there safely, thank goodness!)  But I have to mention how cute lil' Jelly Bean was at his first fireworks show.  I thought for sure he'd be nervous, as were his brothers at his age.  But after every boom, he clapped his hands and yelled, "yeah!"  and smiled.  He never lost interest, and kept his gaze to the sky almost the entire time.

After traipsing, again, through what felt like a war zone to get home, we lit a few of our own fireworks.  That's when I remembered to take pictures.  In case you aren't aware, fireworks are hard to take pictures of.  This is all I managed to get:

lighting one

It's not much to look at, but that top light exploded about 1/8th of a second after I took the picture. 

I took a bunch of random pictures of blackness that I figured you don't really want to see. And we let the kids run around with a sparkler in each hand. I didn't pull out the camera until right before the last one went out.  (shame on me) so, this fourth of July?  memorable, yes.  Well documented?  no.  I'll work on that.

In the meantime, God bless America!