Crayon Art

Welcome to my very first teaching blog.  I've recently become obsessed with Pinterest, so I figured I would give it a go.  I love that teachers are sharing so much, and I am using so much of what others have shared!  As teachers, we create so many things to use in the classroom. We try new things, some work, others don't, but we're always growing and learning.

Crafty Corner Monday

So today a friend and I decided to try that fancy crayon melty art we've been seeing so much of lately.  All in all, it went well.  

Here are the materials you need:

Art Canvas

Crayons (we used the 64 count box-it has more colors)

Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Hair Dryer

Small Wooden Letters (Optional)

Paint for Letters (If Desired)

Directions:

The first thing you need to do after getting your materials together is decide whether or not you want to add lettering.  We were making ours as signs for the classroom, so we used small wooden letters that I found at Walmart.  

We painted the letters for our signs with inexpensive acrylic paint.  Once your letters dry, you will need to decide if you want to place them on the canvas before or after you melt the crayons.  I wanted mine on first so that the crayon would drip around them.  I didn't want the crayon to melt and cover the letters, so I put a large dot of hot glue on each letter and let it dry.  Then I put new hot glue on in a different spot and stuck it on the canvas.  That way the letters would stick up off the canvas a bit.  Be sure to place a crayon at the top and arrange your letters on the canvas before you start to glue them on.

Next, we arranged the crayons on the top of the canvas.  Before you glue, be sure the crayons are arranged in the order you want (I wanted the word "crayola" to show).  You may want to leave out some colors (brown, black, gray, etc.).  Then you will put a line of glue down the back of the crayon and glue them on the top of the canvas.

Once all of your crayons are glued on you are ready to get out the hairdryer. We started out aiming the hair dryer near the bottom of the crayon.  They started to melt very fast, but we quickly learned that if we wanted the point to stay on the crayon, we had to aim near the top of the crayola mark and point the dryer downward.  This will take a little longer, but the end of the crayons will stay pointy this way.  

Once the crayon starts to run down the canvas, you can use the hair dryer to make the drips go all the way down the page, or blow around the colors to mix them up.  Its all up to you.  Have fun!