Valentine's Day Cards: I Heart You Crayon Cards

These are a really cute Valentine that keeps on bringing joy to the receiver. 

You will need:

• Old, broken, or small crayons, paper removed. (May need to cut into smaller pieces.) If you don't have  enough old crayons, Target and the dollar stores often carry cheap boxes of crayons.
• Old muffin pan or silicone mold. DM Tip: This time I used a heart silicone mold to make the crayons and it worked really well. However, some of the darker colored crayons did stain the mold.
• Glue Dots or double sided foam tape.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Place small pieces of crayons inside the mold until about 1/2 inch to 1 inch high.
3. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until they start to melt and slightly combine. You don't want them to melt all the way or it will turn into one color. The crayons can smell while they melt, but an open window helps.
4. Take out of oven and allow to cool in the pan (about 30-60 minutes, depending on thickness of the crayons). DM Tip: If it is cold outside, place the pan on a level outside surface to cool faster. Also, don't worry if it looks ugly when it comes out. Wait until they cool and you flip the crayon over. For some reason, the other side never seems to look like the bottom!
5. While the crayons are cooling, cut out the paper for the Valentines. I chose a circle, but a larger heart would work well too.
6. On the front place a couple glue dots in the middle of the Valentine and place on the crayon. Press down gently to get a good seal. DM Tip: If the edges on the back of the crayon are too high, you can rub them down with a piece of paper or carefully shave them down with a sharp paring type of knife.
7. Write a message on the front and/or back. DM Tip: I have horrible handwriting, so I printed out round labels with the message for the back of the Valentine. I used Avery Round Clear Labels (Product # 22825).

• Message ideas:
1. I heart you. 
2. This heart is for you.
3. My heart is yours.
4. You color me happy.

DM Alternatives:

• Alternative 1: Create an arrow to go on top of the heart. Use cardstock and cut out an arrow tip and tail feathers (see stencils below). Place on a Valentine's Day themed pencil. Use Glue Dots to attach the arrow to the top of the heart.

• Alternative 2: Use a star shaped mold instead of the heart. Write the message, "Valentine, you light up my world", "Valentine, you light up my heart", or "Valentine, you brighten my day".
• Alternative 3: Higgins saw a pack of Valentine's Day pencils at Target (8/$1) and wanted to give the pencils out too. I had already made the crayons, so we went to the office supply store and bought a pack of CD envelopes (50/$3). I placed the crayon Valentine in the envelope and sealed with a piece of tape. I taped the pencils with some cute decorative tape (also from Target) on the front of the envelope.

• Alternative 4: I used the larger sized heart pan. However, you could use a mini heart mold (like Wilton's Petite Silicone 12 Heart Mold) and give out gift bags with multiple crayons.
• Alternative 5: Use a chocolate candy heart puzzle mold to make the crayons!

Arrow tips and tail feather stencils. Cut two
horizontal slits in the middle of each piece to
 slide the pencil through.