making crayons

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I'm sure it's been done, but I made mini muffin tin crayons for my kids lat night and still making the rest this morning.

We actually bought 3 new boxes to go with all the crayon bits we had, so I somewhat of a colour match. We bought cheap (59cent) boxes of 39 or so.

1 - take the paper off

2 - break into ~1/2 inch pieces

3 - match up shades (anything red, pink, yellow, etc..) into bags

4 - turn the oven onto 200

5 - spray the tin with mold release spray (I used candle mold release since it's made to work w/ wax)

fill the tin up with your shades about 3/4 of the way - we got more crayons this way so both boys had one of each shade to use so there was no fighting. you can fill it up to the top as well

6 - put them in a somewhat preheated oven (step 4) and leave them for about 1/2 hour, maybe more, maybe less, I wasn't timing it. I put it right onto the rack.

7 - use an oven mitt to take the tray out. Use something (I used a plastic knife) to give it a little stir. They separate, and kind of look like there’s water on top. Stir gently, so you don’t splash. Let them cool, about an hour or so, maybe more, maybe less. I wasn't timing it. The first batch set overnight, the second was ~ an hour.

8 - gently press on the top of the new crayon to see if its solid. If it is, turn the pan over and press on the center of the muffin mold of each one to get it out. If this doesn't work, raise it up a few inches and either let it drop or bang it gently, and they should come out. Lovely stuff that release spray. If they still don't come out, place them in the freezer for a few minutes, then try again.

And there you have it! I did this instead of buying more square crayons, since I bought beeswax ones last time and they were about a dollar a crayon (great colour, all natural, but too expensive for me right now).