Leaf Sun Catchers (reposted from Oct. 2008)

We have an old baby wipes box full of old cheap crayons that have been given to Blaze at various restaurants or as gifts. Even though he never uses them for coloring (he has two sets of nice beeswax crayons for that, but he really prefers colored pencils), they are still useful for this project.

Choose crayons that have fall leaf colors like yellow, orange, and red. Keeping each color separate, shred the crayons into little piles of wax shavings. We found the wider hole on our pencil sharpener to be handy for this.


After all of the colors are ready, place a piece of waxed paper on an ironing board. Sprinkle different colors of crayon shavings in the center of the waxed paper. Stay away from the edges of the paper, because as the wax melts it will spread and if it's too close to the edge it could end up on the ironing board cover.





Next, add another piece of wax paper ( the same size as the first) over the top of the crayon shavings.



Using an iron that has been preheated to the "polyester" setting (3), iron over the top waxed paper, while holding the edge of the paper still with your other hand.





Let the wax cool.

Trace leaf shapes onto fall colored construction paper that has been folded double, short end to short end (hamburger style, according to the kids at school). Real leaves can be used for this or a leaf shaped cookie cutter like we used.



Cut out the shape slightly larger than the trace lines. Then, stick the scissors through the middle of the paper leaf shape and cut out the center along the trace line. This will be the frame for your leaf. It makes the leaf stronger and gives it a more finished look.



Using a glue stick, attach one of the construction paper frames to the waxed paper, then cut around the frame. Glue the other piece of the frame to the other side.
Once the glue is dry, it's ready for hanging. A hole punch can be used to make a hole in the top of each leaf, so they can be hung by strings or they can be taped to a window. Either way, the light shows through them beautifully!