Happy Valentines Day!

Alternate title: The most pinterest'y' thing I have ever accomplished! (and a day early to boot!)

In a fit of hypocrisy I went a little Pinterest crazy for Valentine's Day this year. I suppose it isn't completely hypocritical since I did write just a few days ago that don't have to be a 'pinterest mom' unless you want to be...what can I say other than that I am loving this second trimester burst of energy! 

Anyway Lily's preschool class is small so I figured it wouldn't be too crazy to make her Valentine's Day cards instead of buying them. For the record I also bought a box at the dollar store fully expecting to fail miserably at producing cards that would not scar my daughter for life. After seeing a few cute things that involved at lot of paper and cutting I decided to make these...

Credit: http://beholderinsinspirations.blogspot.com/

I thought it would be super cute if we made heart shaped crayons and attached one to each of the kids' valentines. I couldn't find this small silicone mold and since I was throwing this whole thing together in one day I actually felt pretty grateful to find a bigger (6 cup version) version at Christmas Tree Shoppe for three bucks. 

Lily helped to break up the crayon pieces (as best she could) and she also helped to place them into the mold. She had just enough attention span to help me make the first batch, then Mimi and I peeled crayons for the rest of the afternoon a little while longer, in order to make three batches total. 

I baked the crayons at 350 for about 10 minutes. As soon as they looked melted all the way through I took them out of the oven and placed them on the porch to cool, I am far too impatient for my own good. I was a little worried because most of the crayons just looked brown from the top and I was pretty convinced that this whole thing was going to be a huge flop. When I popped the crayons out of the mold (and they really did slide right out) I was pleasantly surprised! 

The first batch I made was very thick and I decided that for the purposes of gluing them onto the foam card stock I had, thinner was better. For the second and third batches I only used two layers of crayon as opposed to filling the whole cup. They were harder to get out of the molds but in the end were easier to attach to the cards. I used hot glue which melted the wax slightly and seemed to hold the hearts in place. 

Lily had to write her name on all 15 cards, which after the first three was the worst thing I had ever asked her to do in her whole life. We had to take several breaks and I had to apologize for snapping. It wasn't my finest moment but I should have known better than to expect that she was going to fill out all of the cards in one sitting: stupid mommy. 

The end result was super cute and I was happy with how they turned out. I would definitely do these crayons again for other holidays or goodie bags. 

Then in a moment of total insanity I decided that I should also make royal icing heart cookies for Lily's class. 

I really have no idea what came over me, like I said some kind of pregnancy related phenomenon. 

Last but certainly not least, Lily's Valentine's Day gift from us, a brand new outfit! She was one happy little girl as she left for school this morning! 

Gotta love that toddler "smile"