MUST DO:
The melted crayon effect on canvas is so easy to do, does not take a long time (30 minutes MAX), and makes for a great present. I made the canvas above for my mom since she saw me make a similar one for my friend, Julia, in August for her birthday. My mom said she loved it so I figured I would make her one with pictures special to her.
MATERIALS:
Canvas --- any size you want -- I used size 20x16 from Michaels
Pictures -- I printed only 4x6
one 64 Crayola Crayon Box
one 24 Crayola Crayon Box
Hot Glue
Black Sharpie
Hair Dryer
FIRST: I made a folder on my computer where I put all the pictures I wanted to print. Now keep in mind the kind of effect or colors you want to incorporate. I like the rainbow effect because of the many blended colors so I made sure to choose photos that had a distinct color of the rainbow (as seen above).
SECOND: I went to Walgreens and printed the pictures (size 4x6)
THIRD: I chose the crayons adhering to the colors of the rainbow. I then laid out the crayons on the canvas, tip facing downward, following a diagonal line where I wanted the pictures to be glued later. This is based on your preference. I have seen people glue the crayons in a heart shape, or straight across the top. IT IS UP TO YOU. I then hot glued the crayons.
FOURTH: Lay out newspaper on the floor underneath and surrounding your canvas. Once you melt the crayons, wax may get everywhere and it is not the easiest to clean off your floor. With a hair dryer, I melted the tips of the crayons. You may have to be patient as you face the hair dryer on each crayon. Once you see the tip starting to melt, and color coming out, you can move the dryer up and down or across the canvas in order to blend each color. Once you do this for about 8 minutes, you will be left with a cool drip effect of the wax and the blending of the colors.
FIFTH: Wait about 5-10 minutes for the wax to completely dry. Hot glue the pictures on to the line of crayons, making sure the colors of the pictures align with the colors of the crayons.
SIXTH: Optional -- I left space at the top to write a little message (with a black sharpie) and thought it would be cute to include it since I was giving the canvas to my mom.
This is a really fun and creative way to display pictures. I hope you try it some time!!
Love, Rach :)
Here is the link to the video that I used as reference the first time I made it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGlO49ZFKwE