Making Crayons

    As an elementary school teacher, I have access to a LOT of crayons.  Each year I buy boxes and boxes of crayons and it seems as though the reds, the browns, and the blacks dissappear half way through the year.  I’m not talking about violet-red, red-violet, red-orange, etc. I’m talking about your basic red, brown, and black.  Also, I always end up with about 20 white crayons that have not been touched.  Another issue I’m always having is that the crayons get broken into little tiny pieces that no one wants to use.

    Last year I finally came up with a solution.  I had 2 silicone molds just sitting in my cupboard at home when I had the idea to melt down my old, broken crayons and make fun new ones!  I have a star mold and a flower mold.  The first time I did this I gathered up all the broken crayons, nasty crayons, “nudie” crayons, and the white crayons.  If they were a little bit longer then I’d like I broke them into smaller pieces.  Then I grouped them into colors.  The blues (light blue, dark blue, cornflower blue, blue-purple, etc) all went into a pile.  I then split up the white pieces in between all the groups.

2-3 cups of broken, peeled, crayons

2.  Peel the paper off the crayons and break into small pieces if needed.  Group the crayons by color.

3.  Put the crayons in the molds according to color filling to the top.  Put in the oven on the baking sheet for 15 minutes (or until they are completely melted). 

4.  Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheets for 15 minutes.  Take the silicone molds off the baking sheets and place on a cooling rack and additional 20 minutes.  Pop out and enjoy!