martha stewart's waxed hearts - inspiration
After scouring Pinterest for some Valentine’s eye candy I landed on these lovely hearts by Martha Stewart made of simple ingredients: waxed paper and crayons. Sprinkle crayon shavings on wax paper, iron ‘em and cut out hearts. Seems simple enough, right?
Wrong! Shards of melted wax crumbled off and what little was left, well, just didn’t look like ‘sweet’ hearts.
Apparently, I’m not the only one.
AuntPol wrote at the WeddingBee forums:
There’s an hour of my life I won’t get back! I don’t have pics of my pathetic attempt as I flung the whole thing in the fire, in a fit of temper :)
Basically, crayons are reeeeeallllly hard to peel. Like trying to peel rocks.
And then, when they have melted under the heat of the iron, if you don’t pay attention liquid crayon oozes out all over the place.
And worst of all, they set reeeeealllly quickly: it’s nigh on impossible to cut the blighters neatly, thry’re very inclined to splinter. And it’s hugely difficult to get the thickness right.
So I’ve done it, you don’t have to!
And then over at Finding Home Online, this project was a total flop, documented with loving care (check her post for all the gory photos).
Laura said: “So we tried again. And it was still a big pile of poopy looking crayon with glitter in it. Oh, and there was melted crayon all over my iron… I did actually cut some hearts out of them but they really just looked like heart shaped poop and I didn’t feel like that was very Valentiney.”
And over at New Month’s Eve, there’s a very detailed post about how much this project sucked: Crayon Hearts (check the post for all the details & photos)
Molly said: “First, it said to use a handheld pencil sharpener to collect crayon shavings. Except, not so much. The crayons wouldn’t fit into the handheld pencil sharpener and we couldn’t get them to produce any shavings.”
Next problem, the crayon is oozy and comes out the sides of the wax paper. Then, your iron gets messy with wax (I bet that’s fun the next time you go to iron clothes!)
So I guess I’m not the only one.
Martha made them… and so did I.
We used to make these as children. You used way too much crayon, and out it way too close to the edges. You don’t need much crayon to make it melt into a thin layer.
I hate to say it, but I make these all the time and have no problem with it. Very little crayon is needed. Much less than you think because it spreads out between the layers of wax paper. Try it again and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. :)
I totally second what the previous poster said. I used to do this with my mom, and you use just a small amount of fine shavings. And keep it farther away from the edge.
Grater attachment on a food processor should make those crayons easier to handle, and quicker. Then chop the shredded bits in the processor with the blade. I’m just guessing. It works with Fels Naptha, it should work with crayons!
I also enjoyed doing this. Instead of cutting out your shapes first, use large sheets of wax paper. I ground crayons on a large grater that I use for crafts, don’t let crayon go toward the edges, iron very quickly. Draw your shapes…we cut out circles…using various round items. We then tied the string on, made a circle out of heavy wire, made a mobile for my daughters room in front of her window.
Nice to know I am not the only one who had so many problems! On to the next project!
Take care,
Laura
I actually use a razor blade to shave the crayons.
If you put your wax paper under 5-6 sheets of construction paper, it will *help* protect the iron from the wax.
Martha is notorious for leaving out important details, though.
I tried this years ago, before Pinterest… It was a huge fail :( I have always said that I’m gonna give it another try, but haven’t collected the courage yet…
@Ale, I remember when this came out in Martha Stewart Living back in like 2000… I did it that year. I forgot that it was that messy, but as I read the accounts of craftfail, it kinda sounded familiar!!
Oh ,I remember making these with my little sister for valentines day decorations years ago. I don’t seem to remember us having any problems, and in fact my mother still brings them out every year. I guess we were just lucky. ;)
Seriously though, even the ones that turned out as they were supposed to are somewhat pointless. Neither use nor ornament, I’d have said. I don’t know who Martha is, but she seems to have a lot of time to kill.
I have done this similar project with preschoolers. We used hand help pencil sharpeners from Dollar Tree- though I can see using a veggie peeler would work as well. Could also be the crayons you used, depending on the type of wax to color ratio- if cheaper brand. but that is just a guess.
I have been on the FAIL end too many times with projects that seem.. just Oh So EZ but end in disaster or tossed aside in the “maybe I will get back to it later” pile. The trick is to not give up and try different things to see if you can make it work- or move on and try something else if that is too frustrating. lol
Actually Martha doesn’t leave all the details out! I am making them right now… my first batch had too many shavings, but no mess to report so far. And super easy!
You only need a little bit of crayon to melt and spread it, but not all the way to the edges. to peel the paper off, slice it down the length of the crayon first. pile paper towels under and on top of your wax paper. good luck.