Crayon Button Heart Ornaments

We have a tradition in our home where we buy a special little Christmas tree just for the kids. Each ornament placed on the tree is homemade. We spend a lot of time during the first few weeks of December making ornaments. Two of our ornaments from last year were featured over at Hands On: As We Grow's homemade ornament round up earlier this week.

Today while my husband slaved away hanging lights on the front of our house, we made some 

crayon button heart ornaments. 

I think they will look beautiful during the day as the sunlight hits them... and then beautiful at night when the tree lights shine through them.

The best part was that they were simple to make.

Materials Needed: crayons (old/broken is preferred), grater (older one), wax paper, scissors, buttons (optional), glue, hole punch, ribbon/yarn, an iron, and an ironing board (plus some old kitchen towels).

Directions:

1. Grate your crayons to make small wax shavings. I like using small shavings the most. 

2. Pour shavings onto a piece of wax paper and then cover with another piece of wax paper.

3. Place wax paper on top of an old cloth on the ironing board. Place another old cloth on top of the wax paper.

4. Run your hot iron over the wax paper (and cloth) and press until the wax is melted. Let it cool.

5. Sort and make designs with your buttons. My son liked making heart shapes and circles.

6. Grab some glue and decorate your ornament with some of your favorite buttons. You can't see the buttons that well when the light is shining through them... but my son really liked adding some texture and pizazz to his hearts anyway.

7. Punch a hole in the top and string your yarn or ribbon through the hole. Kids can totally use the hole punch as long as an adult is supervising. Make sure they punch far enough in so that the hole doesn't rip.

8. Hang on the Christmas tree or decorate your windows with beautiful hearts.

This activity goes along with the first gift we will be studying about as part of our Christ-Centered Christmas tradition- Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

The first tradition includes studying about Mary, pondering what was in her heart on the night that Christ was born, and making a heart ornament.

Skills that can be taught during this activity:

- Color names and various ways to describe colors- Say things like: "The red on the ornament looks like fire," then have your child compare a color to another object or describe it in more detail.

- Shapes and sizes- Discuss the sizes and shapes of the buttons, hearts, crayon shavings, and button creations you make.

- Fine motor skills as kids grasp the crayons and rub them on the grater- It is hard work for little hands! So is using the hold punch!

- Patterning and creating designs as children move the crayon shavings around and decide where they want to place their buttons- Encourage them to try and create several patterns and designs before just settling on one.

If you haven't shared your favorite heart ornament yet, pass it along! 

I am collecting more ornament and Christ-Centered Christmas ideas on our pinboard as well!

PS- Our Best of November Link Up is still running for only a few more days. Go share your best post from this month!!

PPS- Our ZipBin Playmat Giveaway via Neat-Oh is in full swing!! Don't miss out on choosing your favorite playmat to win for your little ones. Deadline is December 1st.