It's a well know fact that I have a lot of trouble throwing things away. It pains me. So the crayon collection has been seriously out of control for years. I have bags and school boxes of crayons. Wait- had. Because Isaac has been asking to make a giant crayon for a few months now. So I finally bought one of those silicone mold baking pans and...
We now have a non sugary Valentine's gift for the school exchange. Isaac and I worked on them for hours yesterday. Turns out that de-papering crayons is no small task. We did discover that a sharp knife really expedites the process (and of course my boys love any project that involves a sharp knife). One of the neighbors even came over to help.
In truth I have a lot of anxiety around Valentine's Day. And no, it's not because Curtis refuses to acknowledge the holiday (I made the mistake in college of telling him I thought it was pointless and only continued b/c candy/card and flower makers guilted us all into it- he still holds me to that.) Actually though, my trauma is from nightmarish episodes of forcing my boys to write out all those names on the Valentine's. The problem is threefold:
1) Until recently, my kiddos didn't love writing and 20 cards proved to be pretty stressful for them
2) I procrastinate and so usually we're whipping out Valentine's the night before or gasp!-morning of
3) Storebought Valentine's are printing on strangely waxy paper- that CANNOT be written on (easily anyway)
So this year I kept thinking I would like to print our own out. Then I saw these from I am Mama, Hear Me Roar. When I first looked at them they seemed over-the-top but I couldn't get them out of my mind and... they actually came together quite quickly. I guess it helps that my kids are older now and can do most of the work. I had the snack bags and card stock for printing and of course the crayons. So all I bought was the candy and silicone mold. We'll be doing more this weekend- it was actually a lot of fun to work on together. Love to see links or hear other ideas!
