The other day we shared our newest (and current favorite) paint recipe - Crystallizing Watercolors!  Well we've been painting up a storm with them, and I thought we'd use them to make another Valentine's Day decoration!  Because the crystallized watercolors shimmer when the light catches them, I thought they'd make a perfect mobile.

First we decided how many hearts we wanted to paint.  I made a template heart out of foam and S and I traced it onto paper.  I did most of the tracing because it was challenging for S.  Then I mixed up a set of fuschia, orange, and yellow Crystallizing Watercolors (click to find the recipe and tutorial).  Though she had the option to paint the whole paper at once, she chose to paint the individual hearts instead.

S painted two sheets and I painted the third.  We left them to crystallize overnight.  A thin layer of our Crystallizing Watercolors will result in a thin layer of shimmery flat crystals; a thicker layer - almost puddle like as you can see below - will result in thick raised crystals.

The next day, S cut the hearts into long strips and I cut out each individual heart (it was a bit challenging to cut through the crystals in the sections where the paint went outside the lines - it may be too challenging for your child to cut themselves).  The shimmer from the crystals is incredibly hard to capture with photos - but you can at least see the bigger thicker crystals on the right hand side of the heart below.

The pile of crystal hearts!

We'd decided to make a mobile that had six strings of three hearts each.  Because I wanted the mobile to look beautiful as it spun, we made 36 hearts so I could make them two-sided.  I cut a strip of posterboard paper (cardstock or the thin cardboard used for cereal boxes would also work well) and taped it into a circle.  I next measured out six identical lengths of fishing line (you could use ribbon, string, or yarn if you don't have fishing line).  S handed me pairs of hearts, and I would lay one face down, stretch the fishing line taut through the center of the heart and tape it.

Next I'd add a roll of tape and push the other heart down onto that.  Double sided tape would work perfectly for this if you have some (we didn't).  You could alternatively glue the hearts and fishing line together, but we weren't that patient.  :)

Once I had the six strings of three double sided hearts, I hung them from the circle by placing a strip of tape on the inner portion of the circle.  Once all six strings were taped, I gathered them all in my hands, made them even, and knotted them.  

And here is our finished beauty!  We hung it outside briefly and enjoyed watching the various hearts shimmer as their crystals caught the light.  I'd wanted to keep it in our living room by our big windows, but S is so smitten with it she *needed* to have it hanging over her bed instead.  :)

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out the rest of our Valentine's Day posts here!

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children.  As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family.  I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision.  Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies).  Observe caution and safety at all times.  The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.