There’s nothing better than taking something that’s old, haggard and about to end up in the garbage and making it new and exciting all over again. Especially if the project involves crayons!
The other day my boys and I were feeling a little crafty. I have also been feeling a little bit of the nesting bug so was thrilled when we came up with a project that would not only yield a delightful craft but also help momma by cleaning out the scraggly crayon box. That’s what I call a win-win situation.
My four and two year old eagerly helped me pick out the broken crayons. We removed the paper wrapping and assorted them by favorite color combinations in a non-stick cupcake pan.
They stood up at the counter and watched as I chopped up the crayons into little pieces. Their little helping hands scattered the crayon bits into the cups and we slid it into a 150* oven. With the oven-light on, so we could periodically check on the progress, we patiently waited for about 45 minutes until the crayon bits had sufficiently melted.
Don’t be alarmed if they look like one uniform color. Once you reverse them you will see all the beautiful colors that you worked so hard to coordinate.
I carefully removed the crayons from the oven and set it to cool. Being more impatient then my two young boys, I slid the slightly cooled cupcake tin into the freezer to speed up the cooling process.
Out popped our new crayons!
Confession time – I have a weakness for new crayons so really I don’t know who’s more excited about this project me or the boys. Regardless we had a fun making them and have been enjoying coloring with our wacky colored crayons.
Inspired by Martha Stewart Kids Magazine
PDF 
40 Comments
I’ve done this a couple of times with the kids. It’s great. I sometimes use the mini-muffin pans to get smaller sizes too.
THESE ARE THE CUTEST CREATION EVER!!!
ps. I love your blog!
What a great idea! I should definitely do this. I’ve been tossing my 2yo’s broken crayons so my 7mo doesn’t swallow them but we should melt them down into big new multicolor crayons. Also…why haven’t I heard of Martha Stewart Kids magazine until now?? I need to find that!
this is a great idea!! my bf actually bought me a crayon maker not too long ago.. it’s perfect for broken crayons!
Oh, how nostalgic! I loved making recycled crayons as a kid, and I especially loved the “magic” of multiple colors coming out of one kaleidoscope crayon. Hope your boys love them.
Love it! Liked it when I saw it on you flickr stream! Now I want to see if my 4 year old has any broken crayons… Sheesh, who am I kidding!
sheer brilliance! and so pretty!
)
thanks for posting this ashley! i remember doing this as a kid, but couldn’t remember the details.
How fun! Now if only I had a box of well-loved crayons to reuse!
Omg…I love these! Now I’m thinking of sneaking out my nephews’ old crayons and buying them a new set so I could make these. Hah!
love this! i have a weakness for crayons too!!
fantastic idea!
have a nice day!
Paula
This is soooo cool!
what a great idea!!!!
Just went back to school days for a sec
smart, smart mommy. i knew there was good reason to keep all our broken ones. next rainy day this will be our project. thank you!
OMG I love this idea! I love craft-sy things and I’m going to go find old crayons to do this right now. Though I’m not sure if I will actually have the time to sit and colour
OH MY GOD AWESOME
These are very pretty and I would love to try making them with my kiddo soon. No need for any sort of spray on the pan? I hope they come out easily!
This is GENIUS! I’ll be having my first little one here pretty soon and I have crayons all ready for when he gets old enough and I will DEFINITELY be doing this when they get cracked and used.
When I was a kid in 5th grade homeroom, we shaved down old crayons and sprinkled them on wax paper, placed another sheet of wax paper over the shavings and our teacher ironed them down for us until the crayons had melted. We taped our creations to the windows of the classroom and they looked so cool when the sun shined through all the swirly colors!
The mother of a childhood friend of mine used to make these using the paper liners of mini Resse’s peanut butter cups so the edges would come out crinkled. I remember how magical it felt to color with those “fancy” crayons
What a fun project!
xx
Do you color with the new crayon wafers? Or are they just pretty to look at?
SnackHound – They are most fun to color with! You get all sorts of great colors.
These are AMAZING! Now I have to wait to have kids to have leftover crayons to melt down! What a great idea!
I almost want to have children just so that I have an excuse to do things like this!
I’ve been doing this with silicone ice trays that make the long ice cubes meant to put into water bottles. So I end up with long chunky crayons instead of circles – easier for the kids to use because they’re already used to regular crayons and pencils.
BTW, if anyone wants to get rid of any old crayons, I’d be happy to take them off your hands. I’ll pay postage. My son loves to help me make new crayons – right now we’re in the midst of doing it for the local library. We took their big tub of crayon nubs and as we finish new crayons, we take them back to be used at art time!
This is amazing! My boyfriend’s nieces are coming to visit us from Greece (we’re living in Holland) and I’m sure they’ll get a kick out of this. We’re gonna try making some crayons.
Magda
Cool! I love crayons too. I’ll have to remember to use this one with my nieces and nephews.
What a great idea! I love the mosaic colours!
oh ashley, my son is addicted to this project! a friend told me about it and now he just spends his time breaking crayons so we can “bake” them. fun, fun!
I love crayons. Well, I used to. Haven’t had an excuse to use one in years. Wish I’d known how to recycle my crayons back then.
This is such a good idea – although I don’t have kids, crayons nor a non-stick baking pan! I might have to mentally file this away for another time!
I love the shots of the crayons all chopped up as well.
Love this idea!! As someone asked before, do we need to spray the tin? Or do they come off easily?
Miss Stovetop,
I used a non-stick pan and they popped out very easily. You can use a little spray if you’re worried. Also, popping them in the freezer should release them very easily.
These are so beautiful and resourceful! It makes me want to go and buy some crayons to color with!
This is such an awesome idea:)
Cutest idea ever. Going to look for the crayon box right now..
We love this idea!
It’s a great Valentine’s Day craft if you shape them into colourful hearts.
http://www.bunchfamily.ca/valentines-day-craft-heartshaped-crayons
Its a great way to use up cheap crayons too that break everytime the kids pick them up
Anyone know if adding some scented oils to the crayons during melting would mess up the consistency? I’d love to make the red-and-pink ones smell like cinnamon, the orange-and-yellow ones smell like citrus, etc…
7 Trackbacks
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ashley Rodriguez, 42 Restaurants. 42 Restaurants said: Recycled Crayons http://bit.ly/cxCAtV [...]
[...] 1. Recycled Crayons from Not Without Salt 2. Altoid Tin Tool Box from Alpha Mom 3. Paperback Postcard from Jason Thompson on Apartment Therapy 4. Cardboard Ho Pad from EvaForeva [...]
[...] order into the moulds. We used a silicone baking mould, but they use a regular metal muffin tin to make these pretty crayons at Not Without Salt.. We put the silicone mould onto an oven tray to give it a bit of support then popped them in a low [...]
[...] Recycled Crayons [...]
[...] Recycled Crayons [...]
[...] over there, why not gather them all together and make some recycled crayons like Ashley over at Not Without Salt? We like the Long Thread’s suggestion to use heart-shaped tins. Heart-shaped crayons are [...]
[...] to use it with my son’s crayons. I came across this post via twitter and went directly to Not Without Salt. Crayon recycling is a great way to provide your child, children, or even yourself with more [...]