Have any of you seen this new Crayola product?
It’s called the Crayola Crayon Maker (creative name, huh?) and retails for anywhere from $30-$60 dollars online. It’s based on the really cool idea of melting down old busted crayons to make new swirly colored ones. YOU DON’T NEED TO BUY A MACHINE FOR THAT! And, heavens to Betsy, don’t pay $60 for one. Criminee.
You can achieve the same effect for no more than $3.50. For reals. With this tutorial you can either make really cool stocking stuffers, or you can give the materials and the instructions together as a gift.
To make swirly crayons, you will need:
silicon baking tray*
dollar store pack of 48 crayons
oven
*Target currenly has silicon muffin tins in their Dollar Spot for $2.50. I bought both the snowflake mold and the snowman head mold. You can also just use a plain muffin pan and save yourself that money.
First, you will need to tear the paper off of all of the crayons. If you are doing this project with a kiddo, these first steps are one you can delegate to him.
After all the papers are off, decide whether you would like to have multi-tonal crayons or not. I chose to separate the crayons by color group because my little guy is beginning to learn his colors, and I didn’t want to confuse him.
Break the crayons into pieces. The smaller the pieces, the more the colors will blend. I left my pieces a little bigger so you could still see the individual colors within each crayon.
Put the broken crayons in the muffin molds, and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. If you are using fewer crayon pieces per mold, it will take less time to melt them.
Take the pan out of the oven. BE CAREFUL! That’s hot wax you’ve got there. Let the wax cool completely before trying to remove them from the molds. If you are using the silicon pans, removing the crayons is super easy, since you can just pop them right out.
Aren’t they pretty? These crayons are a really great size for little hands. My little guy loves them and gets mad at me if I try to give him regular old crayons now.
Like I said, you could easily package up a box of crayons, the silicon pan, and these directions and give the whole kit and kaboodle as a Christmas gift. Or, you could whip up about a dozen batches of snowflake crayons and give them as little presents or stocking stuffers.
If you are going to use them as stocking stuffers, when you take them out of the molds, rub the bottoms of the crayons on some paper to smooth them out. The wax will creep up the sides of the mold when you melt them which makes for an uneven surface. Rubbing that wax will make them easier to stack.
Then you can just use curling ribbon to tie the crayons all together. They are so colorful, why waste money on hiding them with wrapping paper! To recap: $1 for crayons, $2.50 (or nothing) for the muffin pan, and $0.01 for curling ribbon. OR $60 for a machine and $4 for a big, old gift bag to wrap it in.
I’m confident you will make the right choice. 😛
Ok, that is SOOO stinking cute! I've seen the idea before, but never with the shaped silicone tray! Those are great for Christmas! I'm going to feature this on my blog later today! I -just- did a post, so it'll be up around 12:30 EST.HeatherMy Frugal Familytheherberfamily.blogspot.com
love this! I don't have any kids, but my cousins do! So I think I will be making some of these for them! Way better then that $60 machine! Thanks!
Those turned out so cool. I definitely prefer the shaped crayons to the plain muffin tin ones. Guess what – dollar tree has christmas-themed "silicone" (not sure if they really are) muffin tins right now. I saw xmas tree shapes, and maybe a snowman or something, too, so you can get them for a buck, too. Pretty stuff!
I too have seen lots of "upcycled" crayons made new, but didn't realize it was this easy! Thanks!
I found your blog recently and I just love your crafty ideas!!My son and I will definitely be making these for his friends for Christmas!
I got one of those "new" crayon makers at a thrift store about a year ago for $1 and it wasn't even worth that! When I was little we used empty tuna cans to melt down broken crayons and that's still my favorite method!
Just thought I would let you know, I nominated you for this award because of your amazing blog! :)http://prettylittlepresents.blogspot.com/2009/11/kreativ-blogger.html
Love this idea! I have bought the silicone ice cube trays at the dollar store I wonder if they would work. I will have to test them out. Thanks for the inspiration!
Yeah I saw that contraption on tv and thought the same thing… we can do that at home! Anyways your snowflake crayons look great. Thanks for inspiring me.
i love this idea for myself!!! thanks!!!
Fantastic idea!! Off to the Dollar Store for molds!
I wish I found molds like that. I made some yesterday with a small muffin tin. I did a double layer since the first few crayons seemed too short. So I added more crayons in a different colour and put back into the oven. The colours ran a bit but still look good. I just need to smooth the edges before I package it up for a gift.
I made some too, and blogged about them! Mine are nothing pretty, like yours…I couldn't find the cute molds like you had.
Hey there I love this idea and am set to make it but I cannot find the muffin pans! š When did you buy them at Target and whereabouts LOL, I have had my family in IL and FL check their Targets in addition to the ones near me in VA…we are all striking out! I love the shape of these pans compared to other snowflakes I have seen! -Crystal
I got them in the Dollar Spot at Target where they have all the cheap seasonal stuff right by the door. I got them a few weeks ago though. I hope that Target isn't all sold out!
We did this project as a family and gave 2 crayons with a coloring book printed from the internet. The cover of the book was a copy of a color photo of my kids and they wrote "Merry Christmas" followed by their names on it. The kids passed them out to their friends at church today an it was a HUGE hit!!!! Thank you so much for the great idea!!!!
loooooove this! What a great idea!
also, thanks for stopping by my blog. Glad I could help with the winter accessory storage idea!
Could you use cookie cutters on a baking sheet? I would love to make these for my daughters 1st birthday to go in goodie bags, as it is a snowflake theme.
Target has heart shaped silicon trays in their dollar section now….still $2.50 like the snowflake. Just made some for Valentine day gifts and the front is cute (camoflauged looking) but backside or top when in pan is all wax. Any suggestions on how to avoid this? I bought dollar store crayons as well. Maybe they just aren’t as good?
Shan-Lu, I haven’t had problems with just the wax floating to the top of the crayons, but I would guess it is the cheaper crayons. I made a batch for Christmas for my cousin’s son and my son using Crayola crayons. They really do turn out a lot better, and are much easier for the liitle ones to color with. Sometimes you can find the big boxes of Crayola crayons on sale for a good price.
Dollar Tree also has heart-shaped ice cube trays right now that would make cute tiny crayons.
I remember making these when I was a kid! I'm going to make a set to be my nephew's first crayons. He's only a month old, so I have a little time. š
Thank you for all this info! I plan to make them for Valentine's! I purchased a silicone mold and was glad to read it works well for this project. š We love because He first loved us! 1John 4:19
I love this idea! I'll make it soon!!! Thank You!
I just made these, boy is my thumb sore from unwraping the crayons! My 15 month old is going to love them. Great idea, thank you!
A fantastic read….very literate and informative. Many thanks. mold maker
I love this idea!
I'm going to use this idea for my wedding. I will be giving a set to my junior bridesmaid and possibly some of the other children that will be attending, along with a coloring book. I found a pumpkin and leaves silicone tray online that will fit my fall wedding, but I will try to find a cheaper one yet! Thanks so much for the idea!!
I used this for the kids' table at my wedding. They were a huge hit! So many of the parents asked me for instructions… I am sharing the link with them!
I'd love to make these this year! If anyone finds a neat xmas mold under $5 please share!
I found the snowflake molds at the Target One Spot for $2.50 again. They had a couple other kinds including a pine tree and I think candy canes and stockings? I just grabbed the snowflakes and trees because they were the bulkiest. We did the snowflakes last night and they turned out fabulously!! We used up all the broken crayons in the house! They look just lovely. I'll be posting pictures on my blog (with a link of course) later today!
You all can find molds like that by WIlton at Michaels or Hobby lobby… you are not restricted to Target
We just finished making 72 of these for our grandsons' classrooms as Holiday (Christmas) gifts for the kids. I found 100 'zip lock' baggies in the craft section at Walmart for around $1, we put one in each bag, put a label on the crayon and a gift tag on the outside of the bag. They turned out very cute. Very easy too! I found it took longer to melt in the oven, but the process was the same; hardest part was removing the paper from the crayons. Used the snowflake muffin silicon pan in the Target Dollar Spot ($2.50) and it worked great! Thanks for the wonderful idea!
This is sooo cool.. I'm gonna have to try this! I feel like a little kid!Nissahttp://versatilejewelry.blogspot.com
you can use a utility knife to slice the paper off the crayon…
Awesome! Just made these for some Christmas gifts, and they are wonderful!! š Thanks for the idea! :)One thing: how did you clean out the molds afterwards?