Melt My Heart Crayons
I’ve been super busy this week getting ready for The Littlest Apple’s class Valentine’s party. I’ll share the craft and snacks after the party tomorrow, but today I wanted to tell you about the cute favor I made to send home with the kids. Homemade crayons!! I know this is not a new idea, but this was my first time making homemade crayons. It was so easy!
First step, peel your existing crayons (I used a combination of old ones and new ones) and break them in to small pieces. This was the hardest part, and I still have a sore thumbnail from the bits of crayon that got wedged under my fingernail.
Next, sort by color. I put the reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows in one bowl, and the greens, blues, and purples in another.
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. I used a silicone heart-shaped pan and greased it with non-stick spray. (Ok, I may have gotten a little carried away with the nonstick spray.) I filled each cup about 1/3 of the way up.
I melted the crayons in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until they looked mostly melted. I cooled the crayons outside for another 10-15 minutes before popping them out of the pan. I still can’t believe how great they turned out! It so neat to see how the different colors swirled together. This is definitely a project I’ll be doing again!
They turned out so well!
I have a bag of broken crayons I’ve been holding onto for the same thing… but I have yet to get nifty heart pans yet.
I love those, Cara! I wish I would have seen these in time to make them for my son’s class. His party is tomorrow. I’m saving this idea for next year!!
Cara, These turned out beautifully. I love how you sorted the colors. I would like to make these for Weslyn’s class. One question ~ approximately how many crayons did it take to make one heart? I am just wondering how many I need to have peeled. Thanks for your help!
Those are so cute! Yours turned out so much better than the ones Bailey and I made a few weeks ago. Apparently washable crayons leave a layer of white film on top that doesn’t color on paper, which is very frustrating for a two year old. Lesson learned!
The hearts are SO cute! I made little donut shaped ones a while back. You can see them
http://mymontessorihomeblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/color-crazy-crayons.html
The Heart shape would be easier to hold for little hands!
Thanks for sharing!
those are so cute… i am going to try and make them sometime
Tara-
This is totally a guess since they were all broken up, but I’d say there are about 6 or 7 crayons in each heart.  It really depends on how thick you want them.  6 or 7 gets them thick enough not to break without being too thick.  Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions.
Cara! They turned out so well! You could sell them, in fact. Have you ever considered starting an etsy shop? It’s perfect for creative, crafty types like you. 🙂
Can you reuse the pan after this craft? If so, how did you get it clean?
Thanks! The crayons turned out great.
We’ve never had to clean ours, if they cool enough they just ‘pop out.’ Occasionally i’ll need to scrape some drips off the side, but it’s kind of fun.