I am a big believer in reusing items around the house. Which is why I have stacks of glass jars and plastic containers. Because you never know….crayons are one of those items I tend to hoard. With all those extra crayons you can make crazy up-cycled crayons.

Every time we eat out the kids get crayons. The restaurant does not recycle them so I like to take them home and put em in a jar until I have a good size amount. Another way to collect them would be if your have smaller bits or even broken crayons. Either way collecting them does not tend to take long, at least in my house!!

Now comes the fun part! Making them into up-cycled crayons. It could not be easier, with only about 20 – 30 minutes of actual work time. This is a great project for the your older kids, just do not let them use the X-acto 🙂

Crazy DIY Up-Cycled Crayons

Supplies

unwanted (I use the crayons from whenever we eat out) or broken crayons
large bowl or cup of warm water
muffin tin (one you no longer use for food) or silicone molds
towel (paper or reusable)
x-acto knife (optional)

Directions

Place all your crayons into a large bowl of warm to hot water. let them be for a while. You can add more warm / hot water half way through.
Set a timer for 30 minutes. This will help to loosen the glue on the labels.
Remove crayons from the water.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Work on removing the labels. You can use an x-acto knife if you would like. If you do, make sure that this is not done by your kiddos :). I personally used my fingers and a towel to remove the labels. That worked well and was the longest step by far.
Now break the crayons into larger pieces. I broke one crayon into 3 – 4 pieces max.
Place them in your desired mold. Make sure to mix colors that your kids like together. I did pucks with an old muffin tin and smaller festive crayons with a silicone mold. Depending on how thick you would like your crayons, fill each muffin tin. Note that they will melt down significantly. So filling them a little more is a good plan. If you use the silicone mold a few tips. Use a cookie sheet so that you do not spill hot crayon all over! Also, make sure the mold is not super intricate. My trees and stars came out the best. The gingerbread man and snow man did not turn out as well.
Place the tin or tray into the over for approximately 10 – 15 minutes. Make sure to watch it once you hit the 10 minute mark.
Once they are fully melted, carefully remove from the over and place on a hot pad / trivet to cool down. Give it at least 30 minutes to fully cool.
Pop em out and enjoy those up-cycled crayons!