Create your own DIY Valentine decorations with melted crayon heartstrings. This Valentine’s Day garland look beautiful hanging in the window!
Updated January 2025
This is one of the Valentine crafts from our founder Jean’s book, The Artful Year: Celebrating the Seasons & Holidays with Crafts & Recipes.
We decided to give it a try this year and wonder why we waited so long to try it. And we are hooked! We will definitely be making a new batch every Valentine’s Day from now on.
These heartstrings were so easy and fun to make, and they look so beautiful in a sunny window. Hang them individually or string together to make a sweet DIY Valentine decoration.
DIY Valentine Decorations: Melted Crayon Heartstrings
MATERIALS
- Cheese grater or microplane
- Crayons in Valentine colors
- Iron
- Wax paper
- Scissors or heart shaped punch
- Ironing board
- Newsprint, scrap paper, or kitchen towels
- Hot glue gun
- Twine or string
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prep your materials
First, preheat the iron to the cotton setting. Make sure to turn off the steam.
Next, prep the wax paper. Cut a length of it and fold it in half, making a crease at the center. We laid the wax paper over a kitchen towel.
- Grate your crayons
We used a microplane and grated crayons all over one half of the wax paper. We combined pinks, purples and reds to make a Valentine mix!
Fold the other half on top to cover the crayon shavings, so it resembles a sandwich.
- Melt the crayon shavings
Carefully cover the wax paper sandwich with layers of newsprint or another kitchen towel (these will protect your iron from being damaged by the melting crayon). Iron the sandwich enough to melt the crayon.
Make as many as desired.
- Create heart shapes!
Cut the melted crayon sheets into heart shapes. We used our 2 inch heart shaped paper punch to make lots of hearts.
- Create your garland
You can create your garland in many different ways. You can add a dot of hot glue to the back of heart and stick your twine into the glue. You can also just tape the hearts to a piece of twine.
If you have a sewing machine, you can sew the hearts together with a basting stitch through the center of the hearts horizontally, leaving an inch or two between hearts.
Hang the heartstrings in a sunny window and enjoy! Aren’t they so sweet?!
Want more seasonal and holiday craft ideas for your family? You’ll find lots in my book, The Artful Year: Celebrating the Seasons & Holidays with Crafts & Recipes, including 23 spring crafts, 10+ summer crafts, 28 autumn crafts, and 39 winter crafts.
From The Artful Year, by Jean Van’t Hul, © 2015 by Jean Van’t Hul. Reprinted by arrangement with Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications Inc., Boulder, CO.
More Easy Valentine Crafts for Kids
- How to Make DIY Valentines for Kids with Cardboard Hearts
- 19 Easy Valentine Crafts for Kids
- How to Make a Valentine’s Day Garland for Kids
- 12 Process Art Ideas for Valentine’s Day
- The Best Valentine Books about Love to Inspire Creative Family Fun
- 30 Valentine Crafts and Activities for Kids (with Printable List!)
Want even more creative ideas?
Check out our Hearts Activities pack!
We think you’re going to LOVE this sweet collection of adorable heart activities! This 32-page printable eBook is full of coloring pages, drawing prompts, games, and more!
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