Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Fun and Easy Earth Day Craft Project: Make Recycled Crayons.... Out of Crayons

We're pretty crafty here at the Random Handprints household, but it I am the first to admit we are often more about process then results. Rarely does one of our projects come out well enough to be blog worthy. So, it is with great happiness that I share with you a super-fun project I did with my girls (ages five and seven) that was easy, and had great results.

Best of all, this project uses up all the old bits and pieces of broken crayons so it's eco-friendly, too.

Here's what to do:

1. Gather all the broken crayons you can find. Personally, I turned this into a clean-under-the-beds and look-behind-the-books kind of project since the kids were inspired.

2. Take the paper off the crayons and discard any cheap ones that aren't likely to be made of wax, because if they aren't the don't melt as well.


3. Arrange the crayons artistically in muffin tins.

4. Put them in the oven (preheated to 200 degrees) for five or ten minutes. You can watch them melt (which my kids loved) and when they've liquefied, they're ready to come out.

5. Let them cool (at least thirty minutes), and they should pop right out of the muffin tins once they've hardened.


6. Enjoy drawing with your new crayons, or give them as an eco-fabulous present.  I think they'd make great birthday party favors, too.


7. Try not to think too hard about what it means to have just spent an hour making crayons out of... crayons.

21 comments:

Liz Mays said...

I did that in muffin tins once, but I like your heart shaped crayons much better!

Liz said...

OK, so I'm doing this. 200 degrees is all? That's such an easy project!

Anna - RandomHandprints.com said...

it is really easy, and the kids love it! and yep, 200 degrees is plenty, i guess it doesnt take much heat to melt wax.

Alexandra said...

WE DID THIS!!

What a fun memory.

Anonymous said...

This is a craft I've been meaning to do for ages, but I never get around to it. I was also planning on doing this in a mini-muffin tin, but now I want to get a shape of some sort. If I buy one at a garage sale, that counts as "re-use" right? ;)

Elizabeth-FlourishInProgress said...

we did this....in a regular tin once. it didn't take a long time to make the new crayons but it sure did take a long time to scrape the remainder off the tin. good times.

Anna - Random Handprints said...

@Elizabeth - that is so funny, i feared the scraping issue so i bought $1 tins from target i could just throw out (being the earth activist i am) and was so happy when not a single speck remained behind... good to know that was perhaps an isolated incident!

Sarah at The Stroller Ballet said...

I love this idea! Katy from Dim Sum Debutante and I were actually just talking about doing this last week! I may give it a try!

Unknown said...

They are so easy to make, definitely do it! Just use silicon tins so they don't stick.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't find the heart ones which i like..i found flowers which i am going to try tomorrow..are they good to color with though? Don' they need to be more pointy? i am sure my 4 and 6 year old will enjoy making them..they are going to be party favors~Kristy

Unknown said...

they actually color fine, which i can't really explain, b/c you make a good point (ha, ha) that they're not really pointy. let me know how they turn out, flowers sound very cool!

Unknown said...

I love crayon art! I used to melt crayons in the back of our car on long trips when I was a kid and turn them into animals.Stopping by from the Alexa Hop. You can read my Alexa Post here: How To Find Products To Review
-Jen Makobi Scribe

Unknown said...

i would love to know how to turn melted crayons into animals - do tell! and thanks for stopping by from the alexa hop!

gertie @ The Old Block House said...

I love this! When I waited tables, I'd save all the broken crayons from tables to use on this project.

Following from the Alexa hop.

Unknown said...

how pretty!

Aimee @ Explore, Learn, Have Fun! said...

Those are really cute - I'm thinking I need to break out my silicone soap molds and make some of these!! : ) New follower via GFC & FB from the Alexa hop - hope you will stop by and say hi! Happy Easter!

Aimee @
justkiddingaroundatlanta.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I've been wanting to do this for awhile now. Great tutorial. Thanks!

Stopping in from the Alex Hop. Here's a link to my post if you want to check it out: http://www.mapleleafmommy.com/2011/04/check-it-out-independent-interviews.html

Krafty Max Originals said...

I want to try.... looks like fun!

BLOG HOPping around with Alexa - I am now a follower of your blog, wont you also follow me?? ~KM
Krafty Max Originals

Crunchy Frugalista said...

That is the cutest idea! I am your newest follower from the Alexa Hop. I hope to see you soon at crunchyfrugalista.blogspot.com

Mom vs. the boys said...

so cute, where do you find those little cute tins?

Anna - Random Handprints said...

the tins came from the dollar aisle at target -muffin tin mom (muffintinmom.com) told me about them. she is really nice and helpful and could probably suggest other tin ideas, too.

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