Art projects!

I'm a sucker for art projects.  I know it drives my husband crazy how many little art-sy things I start and never get around to completing or completely using all of the supplies I've spent money on; however, I can't say anything other than it brings me great satisfaction and enjoyment to be doing art related works.  Painting especially.  I'm not a creative - abstract type painter - I can't even do a simple scenery.  But I love to do small simple paint projects or paint a wall or do a design on something.  Just love it.

ANYWHO - thanks to pinterest.com and my sister Anna - I've discovered Crayon Art!  Super east, affordable, fast and really cool in my opinion.  There are just limitless amounts of different designs you can create and you can tailor it to fit your decor.  Awesome!

Here is a picture of the finished works I made last night for Keller and Lucy.  The canvases I bought came in a pack of 7 - two are here - one was lost to the creative colorings of Keller thanks to crayons being spilled out all over the floor - so that leaves four canvases left for me to just have fun with and do whatever.  I've already had many ideas fill my head.  I'll write a short description of the "how-to" below the pictures in case anyone decides to do this project themselves.

Supplies:

Canvas - pick your size

Crayons - I got 4 - 64 pack crayons for $1 each - seriously, go cheap - they all melt.

Rubber cement 

A heat gun

A hair dryer with a cool button (optional)

Something to cover the floor so you don't spill/splatter.

Summary:

Dump the crayons out and grab the colors you want.  I did a "dry-run" with them and lined them up across the canvas so I knew I had enough.  You'll notice on Keller's (blue) canvas the crayons are cut in half - the canvases I bought are short so doing half-crayons was a better choice.  

Then once you know you have enough for the design you want to do, use the rubber cement to secure them to the canvas.  I am impatient and didn't wait for them to dry- just waited long enough for them to not slide down the canvas when I lifted it. I also used the heat gun to melt the tops of the crayons a bit so then I knew they'd for sure stick.

Using the heat gut, melt the crayons.  I recommend melting them with the canvas flat on the ground before trying to make the wax "run" down it.  This allows for some pooling of the colored wax and you'll have more control over the distance they go down the canvas.  I also had a hair dryer plugged in so I could use the cool button to blow cold air over the wax so it was solidify where I wanted it to.

Put on finishing touches weather that's letters, pictures, words, anything you can think of.  My sister thought of the idea of flipping it over (using a green crayon scheme) and making flowers on the tops so it looked like grass or the stems.  I've also seen spirals done.  Just google melted crayon art and you'll find ideas or go to pinterest.com or etsy.com to find some more.  

It's seriously that easy!  

***** Side notes: I didn't remove the paper labels/covers of the crayons - although I might do that on my  next one

***** I'll be spraying a clear coat lacquer to protect it all sometime today to finish it off. 

Until next time...