If you’re a parent, you likely have tons of little crayon nubs floating around with the rest of your art supplies. Maybe you occasionally clear them out and toss them in the trash—well stop that! Hold it right there! You’re throwing out the makings of fantastic (FREE!) party favors for your child’s next birthday party. Those little ends and broken crayons can be melted down to make beautiful multicolored chunky crayons, and (packaged up in a cellophane bag with a tag from Big Dot, of course) your small guests will be tickled to receive such a unique and useful gift.

Recycled Crayons

These crayons can be made multiple ways (in candy molds or in metal cookie cutters for example), but the simplest is to use a muffin tin. However, the crayons will leave some waxy residue in your muffin tin, so if you don’t have a pan to devote to crafts and crayons, you’ll probably want to line your cups with cupcake papers first. If you use a non-stick pan, the finished crayons should release easily, but if you’re worried about it you can coat your pan with a bit of cooking spray before filling it up.

Materials:

Crayon bits and pieces

Muffin tin

Sharp knife (optional)

[Preheat your oven to 250º]

Begin by peeling any leftover wrappers off of your crayon pieces. Once they’re all clean of paper, break the crayons into smaller pieces (or chop them up a bit with a sharp knife.) Fill the cups of your muffin tin with crayon bits until they’re filled about an inch deep—be creative: stick to color families or mix and match for some crazy color combinations. When your pan is all filled up, place it in your warm oven (250º), and bake them until the wax has all melted, about 15-20 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, and when the crayons are fully melted remove the pan to a rack to cool (or put it in the freezer if you’re feeling impatient.) When your new crayons have cooled completely, simply pop them out of the pan and wrap them up!

Have fun!

Posted by Shannon, a Dot-arilla blogger