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Valentine’s Day Sun Catchers: Kids Craft

Yesterday was the last day of winter break for my Kindergartener, so to celebrate we decided to get crafty for Valentine’s Day. I love the way our sun catchers turned out so much, they may stay up long after Valentine’s Day. After all, what’s a playroom without a few handmade hearts?

Valentines Day Sun Catchers Craft

This is a super simple craft to create using things you probably already have on hand. I did learn a few things making ours, so make sure you take note of my tips so yours turn out perfect the first time. It is also super quick, so you can make a lot of these in a short time with only a few crayons.

Materials:

  • Old Crayons
  • Wax Paper
  • Parchment or Kraft Paper
  • Manual Sharpener or Knife
  • Iron

What I love about this craft is that it is an excellent way to upcycle old, broken crayons. And since I recently cleaned out the junky restaurant crayons from my girls’ restaurant backpack, we had plenty to work with. We also like to make recycled crayons from old crayons, but this time I wanted to do something different.

Valentines Day Kids Craft Crayon Hearts

After removing any paper from the crayons. Sharpen crayons with a manual sharpener. Since we were using old broken crayons, while my daughter sharpened the crayons she could, I used a knife to chop up smaller bits.

TIP – The first one I made I used a LOT of shavings, like 5-6 crayons worth. That’s overkill. You only need one crayon for each piece of wax paper. Otherwise, it is too thick and you will lose the translucent sun catcher effect.

Recycle Crayons Craft

For the first few sun catchers we made, we mixed colors. But we discovered that when the colors melted, they became one dark shade of red. So we decided we liked the look of a single color best.

Once you have you shavings, place them on a piece of wax paper – approx 12 x 12 inches. Fold the wax paper in half and then double fold the edges to create an envelope that will contain the shavings. This is very important. Make sure you double fold over your edges or wax will run out when you iron. 

Using a low setting, place your wax paper envelope between a large piece of folded parchment or kraft paper. Wax will ooze out — do not skip the parchment or kraft paper. (At first I tried using a rag as a drop cloth, but it got messy. The parchment works well because it contains the melted crayon.)

As you iron, let the melted crayon run in the wax paper envelope filling it with color.

Recycled Crayons Kids Craft

When the melted crayon is more or less evenly distributed, set it aside to cool (just a couple of minutes).

Once cool, use a pencil to draw large hearts on the wax paper envelopes, and then cut out hearts. (I was surprised how easy it is to cut the wax paper with melted crayon inside.) Initially, I was going to trace perfect hearts, but I decided to freehand them and let my daughter cut them out.

Punch a hole in your hearts and hang in the window.

Super pretty, right?

Valentines Day Craft Sun Catchers

Crafts, DIY craft, DIY, kid's craft, valentine's craft, valentine's day

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nichol says

    January 7, 2014 at 1:14 pm

    Today is the perfect day for me to do this with my daughter since we are froze in haha. Love these!

    Reply
  2. Ellen Christian says

    January 7, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    That’s just so cute! I love all the bright colors!

    Reply
  3. Annie says

    January 7, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    ooooh these are pretty!! I love this idea, it is so simple even I can do it 🙂

    Reply
  4. Natalie says

    January 7, 2014 at 3:09 pm

    What a genius idea! Perfect for keeping the children occupied in the school holidays!

    Reply
  5. Shannon Schmid (@milkandcuddles) says

    January 7, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    Very pretty in the sun- kind of a stained glass effect!

    Reply
  6. Cat Davis says

    January 7, 2014 at 5:48 pm

    How pretty! This looks like a craft my kids would love to do.

    Reply
  7. Donna says

    January 7, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    So pretty! I love doing crafts with my son. He’s starting to get at that age where he doesn’t want to be so “crafty” with me, but from time to time, he will feel sorry for me. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Jessie says

    January 7, 2014 at 7:00 pm

    These are so pretty! I forwarded this to my sons preschool teacher, and we are definitely going to be making them at home!

    Reply
  9. Shell Feis says

    January 7, 2014 at 7:57 pm

    My son would LOVE to make those! Thanks for the great idea!

    Reply
  10. Sally says

    January 9, 2014 at 7:58 am

    This is an awesome snow day craft. Thanks for sharing. The best part is you can do other holidays as well.

    Reply
  11. Meagan Paullin says

    January 10, 2014 at 12:40 pm

    I remember doing this when I was a kid – thanks for the reminder 🙂

    Reply
  12. Carolyn Michelle says

    January 14, 2014 at 1:49 pm

    Sooo cute!! Thanks for the tips. I can certainly see how you could get in hot water…er…hot wax…real quick when those crayons start oozing!!

    Reply
  13. Kasandria Reasoner says

    January 14, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    SUPER cute and easy!
    Kas

    Reply
  14. Cynthia says

    January 15, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    This is such a cool idea. They’re so pretty. Definitely would keep them up past Valentine’s Day. Thanks for linking to the In and Out of the Kitchen Link Party. Hope to see you next week.

    Reply
  15. Jamie says

    January 16, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    I remember making these when I was little!! How cute!! This would be great to do as a class or with church, etc. Love it! Pinned & Tweeted!

    Reply
  16. Rose Powell says

    January 16, 2014 at 2:38 pm

    Hello Jen , thank you for sharing your adorable Valentine’s Day Sun Catchers kid craft on The TBCcrafters Linky! My daughter is going to have a blast creating this for our window.

    Reply
  17. Shawn Ann @ Shawn Ann's World says

    January 17, 2014 at 8:30 am

    That is really neat. I’m going to have to try that this weekend with my son.

    Reply
  18. Nichi - The Mandatory Mooch says

    January 18, 2014 at 11:53 pm

    What a great and festive project, Jen. Thanks for linking up to BOTW party!! Nichi – The Mandatory Mooch

    Reply
  19. Jelli says

    January 19, 2014 at 7:37 pm

    Jen, I love this! What a pretty craft project for Valentine’s day or really any day that you need some bright cheerful color in your life. Love it. Pinning.

    Reply
  20. Kelly says

    January 19, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    These are very cute. My daughter would definitely enjoy making them.
    Thanks for sharing,
    Kelly

    Reply
  21. Amanda Tucker says

    January 20, 2014 at 4:41 pm

    I remember doing stuff like this when I was in school! I’d love to do this with the kiddos in my life, so cute!

    Reply
  22. Shop with Me Mama says

    January 21, 2014 at 4:53 pm

    This is absolutely adorable and sooo pretty too! I love all the pretty colors!!!

    Reply
  23. Ashley @ 3littlegreenwoods says

    January 22, 2014 at 10:21 am

    Perfect project for my children! Thank you!

    Reply
  24. Cara says

    January 23, 2014 at 6:23 am

    These are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing on Craft Frenzy Friday! We’ve decided to feature these great Sun Catchers this week! So come by tonight at 7PM CST and check out your feature and link up again! We hope to see you there!

    Reply
    • jen says

      January 23, 2014 at 5:23 pm

      Thanks so much! I am so glad you like them 🙂

      Reply
  25. Raquel says

    January 23, 2014 at 9:25 am

    Loving these adorable sun catchers! They caught my eye at the practically functional party. Pinning these!

    Reply
  26. Kelley says

    January 24, 2014 at 10:30 am

    how cute! what a great idea for valentines 🙂 found you on the weekend linky party!!

    Reply
  27. Pam says

    January 24, 2014 at 4:19 pm

    I am so over the dark , dreary winter where I live, so I could really use some fun colorful in my house! You are today’s Dare to Share Feature of the Day. Thanks so much for linking up!

    Reply
  28. Sherry says

    January 24, 2014 at 5:52 pm

    Great idea. I would love to try.

    Reply
  29. Claire @ A Little Claireification says

    January 24, 2014 at 9:39 pm

    Sorry this is belated but thank you SO much for linking up to our “Best Of The Weekend Party last week!! I featured this awesome project tonight when the party went live. 🙂
    Have a great weekend!! xo

    Reply
    • jen says

      January 25, 2014 at 10:33 pm

      Thanks so much! Glad you liked my Sun Catchers 🙂

      Reply
  30. Linda says

    January 30, 2014 at 9:24 pm

    I think I have to make these, too. 🙂 Thanks for showing how! Linda

    Reply
  31. Danielle says

    February 6, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    We made them last weekend so much fun! We strung 4 hearts on each string! Sending them to loved ones for Valentine’s day!

    Reply
  32. Alicia says

    February 10, 2014 at 2:46 am

    Hi Jen! Just thought I’d let you know that I included your Valentine’s Day sun catchers in a “round-up” post for Valentine’s Day. Thanks for sharing it over at Do Tell Tuesday a couple weeks ago! I decided to give it a feature apart from Tuesday’s regular post 🙂

    Reply
  33. Cheryl Reinhardt says

    February 13, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    Love the colors,,,,,,,, and what a great idea…….. hearts are always happy and colorful and how can you not love them….. These look really fun to make……….

    Reply
  34. Debbie says

    February 28, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    Thanks, for sharing! Great idea!!

    Reply
  35. Diana Valle says

    December 2, 2017 at 1:45 am

    Using old crayons is a great idea! However have 2 b careful when working with children.

    Reply
  36. lisa says

    May 7, 2019 at 2:25 am

    Once cool, use a pencil to draw large hearts on the wax paper envelopes, and then cut out hearts. (I was surprised how easy it is to cut the wax paper with melted crayon inside.) Initially I was going to trace prefect hearts, but I decided to free hand them and let my daughter cut them out.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jen

I'm an Orlando, FL mom, a blogger and a social media junkie. I love anything crafty, Disney, Gator football, chocolate, green living, flip-flops and family movie nights.
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