melted crayon art

I’m sure most of you have noticed the melted crayon art fad sweeping Pinterest, and for my bridal shower my best friend Ashley actually gave me the supplies to make because she knows I like fun crafts. Dare I say best bridal shower gift ever??

My goal was to create something that actually looks artsy, not grade-school, and luckily I found this post by Jenna Brown that shows it’s possible!

Here’s my “studio.” Just lay out a lot of newspaper on the floor and blast those crayons onto a canvas with a blow dryer set to “hot.” I found that if you move the crayon back and forth (like you’re coloring) while blasting it at close range on “low” it will release the most wax. When I had a blob of wax, I set the crayon aside and blasted the blob on “high” to spread it around and let it seep into the other colors.

No fancy supplies needed—a box of 64 crayons is about $2.84 at Target right now. Thanks, back to school sales! I had a fork handy to spear the crayon per Jenna’s advice in case my hand started burning but it really wasn’t necessary. A little bit of wax goes a long way and I didn’t wear any crayons down far enough to burn my fingers. Some colors definitely melt better than others, and silver was my favorite!

I highly recommend this project. It’s fun, super easy, and VERY relaxing to watch crayons melt into rainbow swirls. And the result makes a fun Rorschach-style conversation piece. Personally I see a snail-dragon on the bottom of mine. 

 

Or if I rotate it this way maybe a hot air balloon?

 

I think I’m going to hang it above the kitchen sink.

Seriously, have a glass of wine tonight and try this, and send me the link or picture if you do!
And check out my etsy shop to see more of my art :)

Chihuly at Meijer Gardens

The other day I realized that I never shared the most gorgeous pictures from my little Michigan trip last month.

Ben and I took a daytrip to Grand Rapids on a hot and muggy day to visit the Frederik Meijer Gardens, an enormous botanical and sculpture garden. 

This summer there was a special exhibit featuring Dale Chihuly, an incredibly talented glass artist.

Chihuly specializes in blown glass sculptures that have an organic look and feel to them, like some sort of freaky flower or creature you might unexpectedly come across in nature.

The exhibit was breathtaking. You would be wandering around the expansive gardens and lawns and turn the corner to find another exhibit of technicolor glass. It was so cool!

 

 

[each swirl is a separate piece, numbered and mounted on a metal frame]

Oh, and the actual flowers and botanical part of the gardens is equally gorgeous.

They even have a "carnivorous plant" exhibit! The biology nerd in me was super excited, but it is basically just a little room filled with pitcher plants.

 

 

A couple of my favorite sculptures...
"The American Horse"

enormous

The alphabet people 

And I think Ben's (and maybe my) favorite part of the whole place was the Children's Garden. ;)

It has a special secret entrance....

A flowing model of the Great Lakes system

and wooden boardwalks and treehouses in the forest.

Overall, I would definitely recommend a trip to Meijer Gardens if you are ever in the Grand Rapids vicinity. They have different seasonal exhibits and even concerts in an outdoor amphitheater. It's definitely one of those places where you can wander around all day and feel like you are in a different enchanted world.