Melted Crayon Bugs--Ugh!

First we found a cute bug template via an online search.  Then we dug out all of the broken crayons we could find and scraped them into little shavings.  This took a tremendously long time and a huge effort.  Along the way we made an enormous mess of the kitchen table and three of my butter knives [which are in the dishwasher now--I wonder if they're coming clean].

Oh, well.  A5 has been practicing her reading a lot on her own.  It is no problem to let preschool go long.  We chatted happily about the wonderful creation we were about to make.

Moving into the living room where the ironing board was set up, I plugged in the iron, traced the bug image onto waxed paper and helped the little girls dump a variety of crayon shavings onto the outline.  Then came the moment of truth!  Melting the shavings!

Though I tried to be careful, the colors blurred together into rather a muddy shade.  "Its beautiful, Mommy!" said A5 as I expressed some doubt about our results.

Some of the wax oozed out the side and onto the ironing board cover.  I'd heard that pressing a hot iron through a tea towel would pull the crayon out of the fabric.  I spent 10 minutes trying.

It didn't work.

My mother uses the ironing board often to press her clothes for work--she dresses in very nice, professional clothing.  The ironing board cover is now in the laundry.  If it doesn't come clean enough for her to safely press her clothing then I'll need to get a new cover.

The melted crayon was dark enough [note to self: blue crayon melts very dark] that I couldn't see the lines of the bug.  I cut the outline blindly.

It was still cute.

I handed a bug to H2 who promptly asked if she could give it eyes.  "Sure!" I said more heartily than I felt.  "I'll help you with eyes in just a few minutes."  I called to A5, who had disappeared mysteriously while I was attempting to blot melted crayon wax.  "Your bug is ready! It is really cute!  Don't you want to come give it eyes and tie a ribbon on it so we can hang it in the window?"

"No!" she yelled from her bedroom where her head was stuffed under her pillow.  "I hate it!  It smells bad, and I don't want to touch it."

Oh.

We never made eyes.  We never tied ribbon.  We never hung our cute bugs in the window.

We'll never do melted crayon crafts again, either.

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