Crayon Shaving Stained Glass Easter Eggs

I've always loved this one. In fact, we have done a crayon shaving stained glass 'something' for just about every holiday since Colin was tiny!

Obviously, this one is for Easter - we used an Egg pattern.

You will need:

2 pieces of black construction paper
wax paper
crayon shavings
iron (and something like a towel, newspaper, etc. to put under the iron)


1. Cut out the pattern and trace it onto both sheets of black paper.
2. Cut the pattern out of the center of the black papers.
3. Use a pencil sharpener or cheese grater to make crayon shavings of various colors.
4. Glue or staple one piece of wax paper to each piece of black paper.
5. Spread the crayon shavings on one sheet of wax paper. Make sure not to use too much and if you are mixing colors, don't use too many colors in one spot or you will get a big blob when you melt them.
6. Place the other wax paper/black paper on top and carefully iron on the wax paper to melt the crayons.  Don't leave the iron in one place too long or it will blob. 
7. You can glue or staple the edges of the black frame together if you choose to once they are cool.
8. Attach a piece of yarn or string to the top and hang in the window!

The crayon shavings



The boys adding the shavings to the wax paper



The finished product

A dark picture of the boys, some jelly beans, Kitty, and the Egg pictures

Bath Bombs

aka: 'Dinosaur Eggs', Bath Fizzies, etc.

Bath Bombs are a fun thing to make with the kids. My boys love "Dinosaur Eggs" that we purchase at Walmart. They make the bath water fizzy and colorful and a little dinosaur 'hatches' as they fizz.  (We've saved all these little 'dinosaurs' to put in our homemade ones.)  My youngest son has eczema and the store bought bath bombs (among all the other store bought fun bath stuff) wreaks havoc on his skin. So here's a natural, fun, Gavin-friendly bath thing!

It's also a great science experiment!

So, today we tried our first attempt at "Bath Bombs". I'm guessing the moist weather had something to do with why they didn't hold their shape that well. However, they still worked great (and smelled good, too!) in the bath. In fact, the boys are still in the tub...

I plan to try some different combos in order to perfect the recipe.

Anyway, you will need the following:

Dry Ingredients


4 oz. Baking Soda
2 oz. Citric Acid (find it in the canning section)
2 oz. Corn Starch
2 oz. Epsom Salt (Dead Sea and mineral salts could also be used)

Wet Ingredients


2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp fragrance (such as essential oils) We used a mix called "Revitalize" that contained lemon, lemongrass, lavender, cloves, rosemary, and some other stuff....It was hard for Colin to decide between Lavender, Geranium, and Clove.
1 Tbsp. oil (I used Almond Oil)
1-2 drops of food coloring (I have this thing against food coloring because of Colin's behavior issues with yellows and reds and Gavin's skin issues so we didn't use any.)

1. Start by weighing dry stuff.  Once you've weighed the dry ingredients - totalling 10 oz - put them in a plastic bowl and set aside.

2. Now measure wet stuff.  Mix in plastic bowl (or shake in a glass jar) You should have a total of 2 tablespoons of wet stuff. You may or may not use all of it depending on the day - if it's raining, you may need less...

3. Add the wet ingredients by the teaspoonful into the dry ingredients SLOWLY.  (That could also be where we went wrong?) If you add too fast, it will start to react. If it does (starts foaming, acts like a volcano) quickly mix the reacting ingredients into the non-reacting ingredients.
You want the consistency of damp sand.  It should clump together when squished. If you have too much moisture, add some cornstarch.

4. Now mold it:  We used those little plastic Easter eggs. Fill your mold with the mixture,  compressing the powder into the mold tightly.  (Here's another place we went wrong) You can either remove it from the mold or leave it in there to dry. We removed ours and they didn't keep their shape.  You probably should keep it in the mold until completely dry. 

(Let it dry for 24 hours)

5. You'll know they are done when they are HARD and DRY.

Keep them in a dry place (in an airtight container or bag) and they will last about 6 months. Humidity will make them react (Like ours did on this rainy day)

Plop one into your warm bath and enjoy the scented fizziness.