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Fun DIY: Old Crayons, New Craft #tutorial

Got broken crayons? They accumulate and get abandoned. We have made Melted Crayon Art Canvases, and now, and rather than throw them out, SheKnows.com has a crafting project that will make those worn-out, forgotten about, broken crayons the stars of crayons; everywhere!

Fun DIY: Old Crayons, New Craft https://mommysmemorandum.com/fun-diy-crayons-craft-tutorial/

This eco-friendly solution to repurpose those broken crayons lying around any playroom across America comes from SheKnows.com contributing writer, Jennifer Kirk, who “melts down” a step-by-step process to turn trash into treasure by finding a creative use for ice-cube trays!

See the tutorial hereon Sheknows.com or follow along below:

Supplies:

  • Crayons
  • Flexible molds/ice-cube trays
  • X-Acto knife
  • Cookie sheet
 
Instructions:

Step 1

Preheat oven to 200° F. Next, works on peeling off the paper wrappers from each crayon. Running the blade of an X-Acto knife down the length of the wrapper will help this step go quickly.

Step 2

Break crayons into pieces. Smaller bits will melt more quickly in the oven and will, therefore, have less time to run and bleed into neighboring colors. Use a kitchen knife to cut pieces down to about 1/2″.

Step 3

Fill molds with crayon pieces. I wanted the crayons to be monochromatic, so I grouped similar colors together, graduating from dark to light, but rainbow crayons would be fun too!

Make sure to just slightly overfill each mold, as the crayons will meltdown and take up less space.

Step 4

Place molds on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or completely melted crayons.

Step 5

To not spill any melted crayon, remove the cookie sheet from the oven very carefully.

Step 6

As the crayons cool, they will harden. Transfer molds into the freezer after the crayons firm up to speed up the process.

Step 7

After about 30 minutes, remove molds from the freezer. If the bottoms of the mold are cool, you can release the crayons from the mold by gently pulling and stretching molds to loosen up crayons, then pushing each crayon up and out from the bottom. If the molds are still warm to the touch, return to the freezer and check again for coolness in 10 minutes.

 

About Julee Morrison

Julee Morrison is an author and writer with over 35 years of experience in parenting and family recipes. She’s the author of four cookbooks: The Instant Pot College Cookbook, The How-To Cookbook for Teens, The Complete Cookbook for Teens, and The Complete College Cookbook.Available on Amazon,

Her work has appeared in The LA Times, Disney’s Family Fun Magazine, Bon Appétit, Weight Watchers Magazine, All You, Scholastic Parent & Child, and more.

Her article "My Toddler Stood on Elvis' Grave and Scaled Over Boulders to Get to a Dinosaur" appeared on AP News, and her parenting piece “The Sly Way I Cured My Child's Lying Habit” was featured on PopSugar.

Outside of writing, Julee enjoys baking, reading, collecting crystals, and spending time with her family. You can find more of her work at Mommy’s Memorandum.