A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

I had known about recycled crayons for a long time, but never got around to making them. And then, the pandemic hit. We did every craft project known to man.

There is something so wonderful about a new crayon. It’s sharp, it colors so smoothly…. and then all the sudden you find yourself faced with having to peel the paper if you want to color more. My kids deem those crayons “no longer useable”. Side note, I remember when I was a kid and my mom bought me a huge box of crayons that I wanted just because it had the sharpener built in!!

I can’t tell you how many crayons we have in general. Never mind the broken ones or ones that I find in the bottom of my bag that we got from a restaurant 80 years ago. In our house, we have a big jar, and we throw all of the “we aren’t using them anymore” crayons right in. When you have enough crayons, dump them out, peel the paper off and have the kids help you break them into smaller pieces. My kids like that part the best. We have silicone molds in so many shapes, but I love the heart ones the most. The silicone molds make it so easy to pop the crayons out when you are done. They’re great for Valentine’s Day or any day for that matter. We made Valentines and attached these homemade crayons to them – so cute.

When you have the crayons broken up in your silicone mold, place them on a cookie sheet for stability. Bake them at 250 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them while they are cooking! When they are done, let them cool. Pop them out – they’re ready to go!

These make great birthday party favors! They are a good choice for Halloween for kids who have allergies and can’t have candy. You can even give some to friends for Earth Day!

Have you ever made recycled crayons before?

Tags: crafts, kids