Crayon-Bit Hearts

In keeping with my ever-present theme of pursuing my "tragic craftiness," as my friend Neely calls it, I passed the time away with my kids on a rainy weekend by making something I found on pinterest: Crayon Hearts. It's a project that answers the question: "What ever shall I do with all of these broken, semi-worthless crayon bits that are taking up space in the crayon box, lest they get ground into the carpet by little hands and feet, making me resent them even more?"

Here is the link to the original post I read on Pinterest -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61951289@N08/5672821563/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Basically, it involves this:

1. Round up crayons and free them from their papery confines.

2. Slice 'em and dice 'em. (Adults only - Knives involved!)

3. Throw them in a bowl or container.

4. Get one of those lovely floppy silicone baking molds, for ease of popping those suckers out. (I got mine from JoAnn Crafts. On sale! Woo-hoo!) Fill the cavities with different colors.

5. Preheat oven & bake at 230 degrees (F) for 15-ish minutes.

6. Take them out, let them cool, and work them out of the mold.

Note: They look better on the rounded side than the flat side, in my opinion.

It really was pretty stinkin' easy. I recommend it! And for the record, you can still color with them in rainbow-crayon form once you bake them. Niiiiice!

Here's the proof that we really did it:

Chop, chop!

A virtual kaleidescope of color. Wowie!

Evenly distributing the crayon bits.

Still a bit melted from the oven.

 Nice and dry. Popped out the first one.

What becomes of the broken-hearted? I don't know, but I can say this...These little guys don't make good fast-pitch baseballs.