Wax Heart Suncatcher
I love the way this suncatcher came out! This project was a lot of fun. When I was a kid, I loved when I got to melt crayons for various projects that I saw. These were usually projects at my great-grandmother’s house. I don’t recall putting any paper barrier between the wax paper and the iron or ironing board. She never seemed concerned so I imagine she hated ironing as much as I do now as an adult. This suncatcher feels like a modern update on this old-school wax paper/ crayon treatment.
Materials
A few old broken crayons in the colors of your choice
(I used red, pink, orange and a little purple)
Manual Pencil Sharpener
Wax Paper
Heavy Craft Paper
Iron and Ironing Board/surface
Various size heart templates
Pencil
Scissors
Wood Circle/ Dowel
I used a beaded wreath from the Dollar Tree)
2 black teabags – brew with boiling water and let sit to make the tea dye
Paint brush
Gold metallic thread
Sewing needle
Short piece of twine
Making the Suncatcher
Be sure to cover your workspace to keep it clean. You’ll be surprised by the crayon wax and how it sticks to things.
1) Brew the two bags to make a dark strong tea.
2) Use the paintbrush to paint the wood bead wreath with the tea. You don’t need to do this step but I find the blond wood a bit too white and boring. The tea stain gives the ring a nice warm feel. Be sure to flip it over and get the tea on all of the beads and in between. You may need to brush it on a couple of times to get the tone you want.
3) Set the ring aside to dry.
4) Cut a piece of wax paper about 16 x 20 – does not need to be exact.
5) Fold the wax paper in half and open it up.
6) Use the pencil sharpener for the wax crayons and place the shavings on the wax paper. You will want to cover the majority of one-half of the wax paper with a thin even coat of the crayon shavings.
7) Fold the wax paper over the crayons.
8) Cut two sheets of kraft paper to completely cover the wax paper (on top and bottom). This is used to protect your iron and ironing board.
9) Turn your iron to the lowest setting (my iron uses fabric type for its settings and I used the one for Nylon)
10) Remove the kraft paper from the wax paper.
11) Using a pencil tip trace or draw hearts on the wax paper. I like the variegated look when I include some sections of just wax paper in the hearts. Cut out the hearts using scissors.
12) Remove the kraft paper from the wax paper.Thread the metallic thread onto your sewing needle. Double the thread and knot it.
13) Tie the knotted end of the thread to the top center of the beaded ring.
14) Thread the needle through the top of a heart and then through the bottom. Be sure to leave a little space between the needle and the edge of the wax paper to prevent breaking. Be consistent in how you thread the hearts, This will create a front and back view of the suncatcher. I like to keep the thread only visible on the back.
15) Once your hearts are stacked to the bottom of the ring, pull the string tight and tie it to the bottom of the beaded ring. The hearts can be shifted up and down the thread for spacing as needed. Be mindful of the spacing of the next few threads on the ring to ensure they are evenly spaced on both sides of the center string and repeat steps 13 and 14
16) You can fill in and layer the hearts to your taste. I used 5 threads (2 on either side of the center line) to complete this suncatcher. Gather your girls as this could be a really fun Galentine’s Day activity. You could use some red wine to stain the beaded ring or maybe you won’t want to waste any. Have fun!
