Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I HEART Crayons! or Cooking up some colour

It's school holidays in South West France and even though we are homeschooling I decided to jump on the bandwagon and give us all a week's break from the routine. Who am I trying to kid? It's me who needed the break :)


The messmonsters whinge, wine whine, grumble and ignore me when I suggest ways of using the endy bits of wax crayons (and pencil stubs for that matter so I'm working on a piece of art to resolve that dilemma - but that's another blog post entirely). I don't particularly like picking the crayons up off the floor, scratching them out of the carpet, or finding them lifeless and asphyxiated after a rumble in the dustbunnies under the bathroom cabinet either. Wasted art supplies are probably the only thing capable of bringing a tear to my eye. 


But am I one to grumble, dear friends? Am I one to complain?

Noooooo! I thought to myself, 'Ange, surely the wise Internet has a solution to your crayon stub problem.' So I raced straight over to this blog and found ….. a 'save your crayons' recipe. That's not really what the recipe's called, of course. But it feels  like salvation to me :)

Then I did what all decent cooks do and modified the recipe. Seemed too much fuss to heat each group of colours up in a saucepan. Faaaaaaaaar too much messy cleaning up, n'est ce pas?  I remember seeing a photo on another blog somewhere similar to my one with all the cracked-up crayons above. So the messies and I broke up all the crayons we could find and baked them instead! Sorry possums, there are no photos of the messy bits because we got into a bit of a panic trying to get melted wax out of the oven without pouring it everywhere.

It's fun watching all the colours melt in together; and as the messies, except for Libellule, aren't particularly INTO art (do we all detect a hint of rebellion????), I thought this might encourage them a little. After all, it's more fun to draw, colour and shade with funky home made hearts ...
RIGHT?



WRONG!
While my back was turned, and everything including the eyes in the back of my head were focused in front, this is what they were getting up to :)


Truly, the kitchen is an infinitely creative and colourful space! There's something to be said for hand decorated kitchen paper towel, don't you think? I may even commission some for my next dinner party.


Pray that will teach me to let them come up with their own colourful ideas. I wouldn't  have to buy a new heart cookie mold if I had done so in the first place :)
Happy day to you all.

11 comments:

  1. You should get a patent for that design on paper towels. It is super cute and fun for any kind of party.

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  2. O c'est tellement joli tous ces coeurs qui s'offrent au monde!

    Bisous
    Lise

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  3. I am truly truly impressed Ange...with your efforts and your messmonsters.
    Prey tell...how long did all of this take? Are you going to tackle the crayon hearts? The possibilities could be endless...how long a break do you have? :) Hope you manage to get some peace in all of it. Honestly....I am so so impressed. Do you ever get time off for good behavior?

    Jeanne xx

    Love the coloured in paper towels... alabour of love

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  4. Very clever and beautiful. Guess you've tried the drawing with wax crayons and then overpainting with watercolour paints. It can be very free and spontaneous. Happy hols!

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  5. Ok, Ange...despite being spectacularly impressed with the kitchen towel I really want to see what happens with the heart crayons. Inspired that is! Hope you and the messmonsters have a great break.

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  6. Wow Ange.. the messmonsters created this art??? apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it??.. Love your heart crayons too.. very clever!!!

    Hope you are well and enjoying spring!! The messmonsters don't need an english tutor do they?? I can be on the first plane out!! hahahaha

    OK... have fun ciao xxxx Julie

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  7. Hi Ange, I am loving rediscovering your blog. You've been up to so much. So many wonderful colourful photos. And who would of thought paper towels could look so good or offer such an occupation.

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  8. super cute paper towel art. its funny, i havent thought about crayon bits (or finding thenm all over the house) in a long time. enjoy it
    ~laura xx

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  9. What a cool idea. Thanks for adding so much color to my day!

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  10. Ange, the paper towel is too cute. I may just have to make some for myself. Love the idea of the heart crayons. As an elementary teacher I always had plenty of stubs laying around the classroom. Wish I had thought of this idea. Kids always seem to like the brand new crayon box. LOL
    ~ Sarah

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  11. How did I miss this??? You are such a fabulous mom! Our children are lucky that they are being raised by you, rather than their american mother...
    Have a wonderful rest of your weekend my sweet~
    xx

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Can't think of a famous quote that says 'communication makes the world go round' so you 'll just have to get my clumsy way of putting it instead ;-) Your comments are precious. Thanks for dropping by!