There is something wonderful about melting wax. Whether it's candle wax or crayons I find it slightly entrancing. So, it's no surprise that I've been curious to try this craft for a while but as it's not preschool friendly I have had to wait for a good opportunity to give it a go. I will admit that Jessica absolutely did join in and loved doing so but there were very strict rules applied and close and careful supervision given. I don't recommend it for young children.
Having chosen a couple of large stones from the garden I gave them a quick wash and then put them on one of my crafting baking sheets that I had also covered in foil. This was ideal because the hot wax doesn't melt through the foil and the baking sheet doesn't stay hot for very long once it's out of the oven making it much easier for Jessica to get involved safely. The stones went into a preheated oven (c. 180 degrees Celsius) for 15 minutes. I set to work on them as soon as they were out and Jess joined me about 5 minutes later.
To create the beautiful patterns all we did was hold some crayons (paper removed) on the stones and allow the crayon to melt and run freely. It was so easy and I love the results...
These are all images of the stones while the crayon was still molten. Having dried overnight they are less glossy but every bit as interesting. It was a really fun processes and we liked seeing how the wax kept following the same paths down the rocks due to their uneven surfaces. We will be doing this again I think. However, I now have no idea what to do with these two lumps of decorated stone and would leave crayon marks where-ever they go. I have applied a coat of acrylic varnish (which has restored some of the glossy appearance) to see if that helps stop the crayon rubbing off but I'm sceptical and think that on this occasion they might just have to find a home somewhere in the garden where they can't do any harm.
No comments:
Post a Comment