Rescued Crayon Stubs

Most kids don't like to color with crayons once they break. Here are a couple new ideas to reuse them. They would also make great party gifts or stocking stuffers.

SILICONE MOLDS

STEP #1 PREPARE CRAYON STUBS


First, take all of the crayons and peel off any remaining paper. Then separate them into color families. Put all shades of red together in one cup, and the same for orange, green, and blue. Whites and blacks can be added to make lighter or darker.


STEP #2 CHOOSE MOLD


Silicone molds (for candies or ice cubes) come in numerous shapes and sizes, which makes for very fun crayons. The flexible silicone makes it so easy to pop the crayons out when you’re done. They are also totally non-stick and can handle the heat from the melted wax, so they are perfect. (Please do NOT use them for food after you’ve used them for crayons!).

STEP #3 HEATING THE WAX


Now dump one cup of crayons into an old food can that has been washed and dried. You’ll need something metal that can handle the heat as you can melt the crayons. Use a new can for each color. You can melt the crayons using one of the following two methods:


Place the can on the rack in the oven and heat until melted or boil some water in a pan on the stove and then set the can inside until melted.





With either method, please be sure to use an oven mitt because the can will get hot. Use disposable plastic spoons to stir the wax until all chunks are melted and the wax is totally liquid .

STEP #4 FILLING THE MOLD

Wait until the can is just cool enough to touch, but the wax is still hot and thin. Do not let the wax cool, or you’ll have trouble working with it. Then use the spoon to carefully ladle wax into the molds.



STEP #5 FINISHED

Once you’ve added layers of color as you wish and your molds are full, let them cool and then flip them out onto the table. If you have any rough edges, you can smooth them down by coloring on a scrap piece of paper .




Triangle shapes are ideal for something like this because of the corners. They are also nice and chunky, which makes them very easy for toddlers to hold onto. What’s more, the flat edges keep them from rolling away on the tabletop, like regular crayons!


COOKIE CUTTER CRAYONS

Here's another idea in recycling old crayons into something new, fun and functional. Take a bunch of runty old crayons and place them (unwrapped) in an old baking pan in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Here's the mess all melted and looking very cool and tie-dyed.



When the wax is cooled a little but still soft, cut with small cookie cutters. Let them cool completely and then separate from the excess wax. They will work best if at least a half inch thick. Thinner, more delicate designs could be used to decorate larger candles.




Use your imagination and have fun with those old crayons!

(I will be busy all this week with our church's VBS. So I will not be posting any of my regular entries. I hope to have some pictures for you.)



(Crayon ideas were given to me by Helen Dowd. Occupy Til I Come )