Crayons

Okay- I’m not making crayons from scratch.  But here’s the deal:  More often than not when my family goes out to eat, we are given three or four crayons to keep my kid quiet (it doesn’t work).  I am 97% sure if I didn’t take them, they’d go in the trash.  Since there are only but so many yellow, blue, red, and green crayons one boy needs in his craft box, I’m making them gift-worthy.

Pile of restaurant crayons

Last Valentine’s Day Spencer got a card from his buddy at school which included a molded crayon, and I’ve been stuck on the idea ever since!

You will need

An ice cube mold or mini muffin tin ($2)

Crayons (free)

The smaller you chop them the more swirly they'll look.

This is about 10 minutes in.  They took a long time, probably because they are mostly cheap crayons.

Giving the crayon men a little swirl.

Unwrap and chop crayons.  Place crayon bits in mold.  Bake at 170 degrees until crayons have full melted- for me this took a solid half hour. If you want, use a chop stick to gently swirl the colors together.  Cool completely and remove from molds.

And that’s it! I think they are pretty cool.

My men!  The muscly one lost a hand, but I can just put the pieces back in the mold in the oven.

Try It

$2 for as many crayons as you have the patience to unwrap.

Buy It

I saw a set at Target for $4.99.

Verdict

If you have a kid in your life, Try It!  It's an easy project, and you could make them single color, or group colors together (red/pink, blue/green, etc).