Recycling crayons to make Valentine's

Lately I've been getting annoyed with all the tiny plastic in our house. This year I thought I would not only recycle something, but also send a Valentine to school with zero plastic. I'll be honest, I long for the days of the simple paper Valentine.

So let's begin. We use Crayola crayons because they have less wax filler and seem to work the best. We collect crayons from restaurants, the van floor and the house in general. Keep a baggie of all the scrap crayons and you'll be surprised how quickly it fills up. I bought a silicon mold from Hobby Lobby and got it for 40% off.

We like the silicon molds because they are easy to pop out

I found the mold in the candle and soap section, but they also have them in the baking. Why in separate spots I'm not sure, but don't feel sad if at first you don't find what you're looking for.

We placed on a cookie sheet because silicon can bend and I don't want hot wax on my hands.

After you place all the broken bits into the molds place in the preheated oven.

250 degrees and around 15 minutes, depending on size of mold.

Keep on eye on them.

Once removed they will be hot and need to cool. Wait. Don't attempt to take out early, they will bend and break.

We loved how they turned out. No two are alike and they were never easy to make. Plus my kids actually picked the colours and made them.

There you have it. I used a paper tag and twine to write her name on them.

These were easy and actually cheaper then a paper Valentine or plastic junk.

Bonus, it gets the random crayons out of your house. Or, if you have kids like mine, we made a few for ourselves and kept them in Mommy's purse. Lol. The crayons get a second life, and my house is alittle cleaner and so is yours.