So ever since the beginning of pinterest....well since I became obsessed with pinterest....I keep seeing these links to tutorials of breaking up crayons and melting them in shaped molds to create fun super crayons that are a multitude of colors. I don't have a use for them but I've wanted to try to make them. Then one day I was at a yard sale and I was looking at a silicone mold and the lady begged me to just take it for free. So I did. And it's been sitting in my cabinet ever since. Until yesterday, when I stumbled upon a 64 count box of crayons for 79 cents at salvation army. So I decided to finally try the project.....and use it as a prize in my god daughters easter egg hunt.
Basically, you hack up crayons, fill the mold and "bake" (melt) them. After reading several ways to do this, I settled on the 225 degree for 30 minutes method as it seemed to be right down the middle.
First step, peel the crayons. After the first pick-pick-pick attempt, I decided a utility knife would be good to slice the wrapper off in one motion. It worked. Don't worry about making a mess of the crayon, you're melting it anyway!
Next, hack up the crayons. I seemed to be able to break the crayons by hand into 4-5 pieces, but they still seemed too big. So I tried sawing at them with a knife. It was so not working. So I got out some wire cutter pliers. They worked, but you had to be gentle or you'll pulverize the crayons into a waxy mess. But, the pliers worked better than the knife or my hands. Use the cutting edge and make sure you remove the cut piece (that will probably stick) before you go to cut another one.
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| This was my work area, peeling cutting and sorting |
Now putting it in the molds. They settle a bit so you can fill the molds to the top or even a little over the top. My OCD had me pairing colors together (my mold fit three crayons in each hole) so I was putting together color combinations until I realized that boxes of crayon have wayyyyy tooooo many dark colors that all look the same (browns, purples, blues, reds) Yuck. So I then resorted to mixing them up.
Then I stuck them in the oven. Only they weren't melting. Then I discovered they melt basically right at the end of the process about 25-30 minutes. But mine looked funny. They were all clear on the top. Then I started reading more tutorials and found out that you can't use "cheap" crayons. The wax separates from the color. Crayola has the market cornered. As with most products, you get what you pay for!
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| This was right out of the oven |
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| Here you can see the layer of wax |
After about a hour, I popped them out of the mold. Some tutorials said you can use plastic ice cube trays. I didn't try them but I would venture a guess and a wager that you'll never get them out. I think silicone is the way you need to go for this project. It's pliable and they crayons popped out quite easily. Way easier than I imagined they would! The top was clear but the bottoms turned out ok, very colorful and pretty! And they do work!!! So it wasn't a total bust.
Lesson learned...use the Crayola!! :) Hope she likes them anyway!
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| The finished product |
