Melted Crayon Craft

Let me start off by telling you that my oldest son is addicted to infomercials, if you saw my Infomercials post you already know this, he gets it from his dad but I am usually the one dealing with it on a day to day basis. I often hear myself saying, "No, we really don't need that sweetie." At Christmas time the boy was really impressed with a commercial for this bad boy......

While I had to admit that it did look like one of the coolest things on the planet, not really but that's the kind of sentences that are used to describe things at my house, I knew that I had seen somewhere that you could make your own custom crayons at home in the oven. I then proceeded (2 months later) to turn to my best friend Google and this is what I got out of reading various instructions.

Here is what you will need:

• Decorative pan or mold (you can also use a muffin tin with or without paper liners)

• Crayons (don't get washable ones, they don't work as well)

• Non stick spray
  

I got the heart pan and crayons at Wal-mart.

Next start unwrapping the little suckers. If you happen to have old broken crayon pieces already then you are a step ahead of me. My boys don't color too much and the little one is a chronic crayon eater, I know gross right? When we go out to eat at a restaurant where they have crayons and a kid's menu he always has a crayon or two for his appetizer. Yes I do try to stop him but he's one fast, sneaky little guy. At least none have got stuck up his nose yet.
I found the crayons easier to peel if you take a knife and cut a deep slit down the length of it, this is a parents job for sure. Then let the kiddos do the unwrapping.
I think the batman ring is required while doing this so hopefully you all have one...

Spray your pan or mold with a little bit of cooking spray so they will pop out of the molds easier. Break each crayon into about 5 pieces. It's best to group the crayons into similar colors, like reds, pinks, oranges and yellows and then blues, greens, purples, to avoid ending up with all the colors running together and making a big brown crayon.

Next pop them into the 350 degree oven for about 7-8 minutes or until they are all melted.

After they are fully melted take them out of the oven and let them set for a few minutes and then put them in the freezer to cool a bit faster. When they are set up they should pop out of the molds pretty easy. I am, by nature, a very impatient person and wanted to get them out asap to see their cuteness but take my advice and wait at least 10-15 minutes and they will be super easy to get out of the pan.

And the end result....pretty darn cute I think. I am sure we will be making these again with all different molds. Little gingerbread men at Christmas time would be adorable I think! If you do make these for Valentines favors you could include a note that says :

-Valentine, you color my world-

The little one approved of them and to my shock and disbelief didn't even try to eat one. Which brings me to another point, if you do give them to kids as a gift be sure to include a note that says they are crayons so the kids don't think they are a big cookie, although I'm pretty sure it would only take one bite to figure that out for themselves.

Happy crayon making!!