Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Artworks: Melted Crayon Hot Rocks


This art project seemed overly simple, but also a bit dangerous. Take note: it's really not for the younger set. So, honestly, it's been on our back burner for a while. We put it on our Summer Bucket List just to get ourselves motivated to try it and, good thing, because we both LOVED it. There's something so magical and soothing about the crayon turning liquid and spilling over the rocks. The warm wax smell. The brilliant colors. There were a few hot fingertips, but we surprised mom by being really careful. Mostly because we wanted to keep doing it. I concentrated on covering the rocks with bright, sparkly colors. Kane went for making scary patterns and shapes.

Here's the deal: pull together some smooth, relatively flat rocks (we purchased some river rocks because we couldn't find any in our neighborhood) and your choice of crayons (if you use crayons wrapped in paper, peel off the top inch or so of paper -- they melt quickly).

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place rocks on a baking sheet and let them heat up for a while -- 10 - 15 minutes did the trick. Carefully remove rocks with tongs and place them into a heat-safe bowl. Place rocks, one at a time onto, a safe work surface. We combined a trio of placemat, kitchen towel, and aluminum foil to make ours.

Then choose your color of crayon and get to work. Watch your little's fingertips and maybe help hand them crayons to keep them from reaching over and around the hot rock. After you've colored to your liking, let the rocks cool and use them for whatever! We've used them for storytelling, building and plant decorations so far.





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