Thursday, July 24, 2008

Cool Chunky Crayons Tutorial

I've been having so much fun this summer making all these creative projects that I've been wanting to try for a while. And this "Summer Fun Idea" tutorial is no exception! I made some giant crayons--I call them "color cakes" with some old crayons I bought at a thrift store. Two dollars & 50cents got me about 300 crayons. And yes, I counted them. I'm weird like that.


This is such a super easy project. I love crayons. But I found out that I love NAKED crayons even better!! They are so vibrant!


I actually have a thumbnail injury from peeling off so many crayon wrappers. So pace yourself & take breaks as necessary.
My girls helped me with this project. It was a great mellow craft to do--especially with my youngest one, who just had surgery on Monday & is still recovering & needs to not be active. She loved helping me peel the paper. We thought the paper scraps looked cool too!


Once you have your crayons peeled, grab a large or mini muffin tin. You can create whatever color combos you want. Break up the crayons & fill it to the top. To make "color cookies" (you'll see them later on) just fill up about 1/3 of the muffin tin.



Here's the mini muffin tin. I would recommend not using your muffin tins again to bake edible goodies in. Keep one strictly for messy craftin'. So, this would be a great excuse to head to the thrift store or a yard sale & pick up a used one!

If you'd like to, you can add ultra fine glitter to your mound of broken crayons. Oooh look! Pink & glitter....two of my favorite things!


Here are the crayons all ready to hop in the oven!

I'm pretty sure I baked my crayons at too hot of a temperature. I am impatient. I baked it at 350degrees. It didn't take long for the crayons to melt. If you cannot keep an eye on your crayons at all times, then lower the temp to about 225 or so & check on it every few minutes. If your pans are not non-stick put a SUPER TINY amount of non-stick spray in the muffin tin.

I pulled out the mini crayon biscuits to show what they looked like "mid-melt".

And here they are all melted! Let them cool for a few minutes.

This is what it will look like as it's setting. Now you can stick it in the freezer to COMPLETELY harden. The cold will also pull the crayons away from the sides of the pan & they'll pop right out!



Here are the finished color cakes.

Here are the color biscuits (made from the mini muffin tin). That pink & brown combo is my favorite!

The second row from the top shows the color cookies.

Pazely tried them out right away! YAY! They work!


These crayons are especially great for making crayon rubbings. We put different leaves & grass under the paper & rubbed with the new crayons.

Have fun creating your own crazy color combos!!

16 comments:

  1. you have such amazing ideas! I love these, it makes me wish I had kids! (kinda) =)

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  2. Thanks columbia lily!---But you DEFINITELY don't need kids as an excuse to have some super duper crafty fun!
    You could also make these & GIVE 'em to some cool kidlet you know!

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  3. guess whats for breakfast kids!!!!..... crayon muffins!!!!
    i must try this. maybe tomorrow.

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  4. I love this idea and I can't wait until my son is a little older to appreciate it with me!

    -Courtney at Quiet City
    http://quietcity207.blogspot.com

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  5. Ah, here's a blast from my past. Crayon blocks were so fun. Think it's time to get melting.

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  6. I know IHOP will give you there crayons, they just throw the "used" ones in a box and let them sit. I have probably a shopping bag full of crayons I have yet to make something with...this is a great idea! Just peeling all the paper off is a bit of a job...any ideas for that?

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  7. Thanks for the idea! I laughed when I read about your injury from peeling the crayons - I thought you were kidding! but then I went to peel myself... it is so hard! I came up with an idea: I slit the paper lenghthwise with a craft knife and the wrapers came right off.

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  8. ooh look how pretty and vibrant those are. out of curiosity, approx. how many crayons per muffin tin (single) do you need. I was thinking about making these for my son's 5th bday party and didn't know how many crayons I need to acquire. Thanks for any input or advice.

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  9. I tried this and it seems like the wax is came to the top and the color is at the bottom. Ever had this happen? They won't color so I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong. Thanks!

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  10. THANK YOU for this amazing idea - my crayons are cooked and are now cooling in the freezer. Kids arriving about 3pm for big crayon/leaf rubbing session. I'll be posting pics of how we get on on my blog later and linking to this post. You're a STAR!

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  11. wow what a great tutorial and awesome idea!

    I love opening up a brand new box of Crayons every year when we buy the back to school supplies but always feel so guilty for tossing the old ones out - Not anymore!!!

    I know what I'll be doing with last year's leftovers now - Crayon cakes! ;)

    Love from Texas! ~bonnie

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  12. Yep, just slit the paper with a box opener and you can unwrap a thousand crayons in an hour.

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  13. So awesome! I can't wait to do this. i bought crayons for my 15month old ESPECIALLY so I can do this when they wear down a bit.

    heheh

    I've also seen people make paper out of the crayon paper. it's a really cool colour.

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  14. I love your post on melting crayons...(with glitter). I was doing a search for something else but so glad I found your blog!

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  15. Thanks so much for your awesome idea! I just did this witht the kids and they loved it. Ive been saving crayons for a couple years and always stock up at school time. To make the peeling easier, i used a box cutter and the kids peeled easier :-) who needs a crayola crayon maker any way?

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  16. Here comes a HAPPY DANCE. Thanks so much for your crayon melting tutorial. I was going to do leaf rubbings next week with the kids and this will make it so much easier!

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