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DIY: Turn Old Crayons into Recycled Gifts

Recycle Broken Old Crayons into Fun New Shapes!

By Amber Nevin, Macaroni Kid Wilkes-Barre Publisher February 2, 2023

We are doing our school and craft supply clean out before back to school shopping begins and of course had piles of old crayons from last school years' pencil boxes and the craft drawer. Rather than throw these away, we recycled them into new shapes which we will use a favors to give out at our next event! This craft is so simple and fun; your children and toddlers can enjoy making these creations with you!


What you will need:

  •  Crayons 
    • Old, Broken, Wrapper-less are all great for this! 
  • Silicon Molds
    • We use the small sized "candy" molds that come in different shapes. They can be found at most local craft stores and are usually between $2-$4 per mold.
  • Oven

Optional (if you would like to use these as gifts of favors you can put them in a bag and add a cute label):

  • Card Stock or Construction Paper
  • Small Plastic Bags



Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 250 degrees
  • Unwrap all the crayons
    • TOP TIP: Soak them in hot water and the wrappers will fall/ peel off easily
  • Fill the molds with the crayons all the way to the top or slightly overflowing. 
    • You can use scissors to chop the crayons into smaller pieces to fit into any nooks.
    • They will melt and fill the space - we mixed our colors up, but you can do similar colors together. 
  • Place the mold on a lined cookie sheet to catch any wax that might drip.  Place on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until all crayons have melted.  This time may need to be adjusted according to your oven.  Do not leave in too long or your silicon mold will melt.  
  • Remove from the oven and be sure to allow the crayons to cool and harden completely before trying to remove them.  
    • Putting the entire cookie sheet into the freezer can help speed up this process.





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  • Enjoy your newly formed crayons or if you'd like to use as favors or gifts follow these steps:
  • Add crayon(s) to a small plastic bag
  • Use Card stock or construction paper
    • Either print designs/ messages on the paper or draw on them yourself
  • Fold the piece of card stock paper over the top of the bag and staple it closed

   


We have so much fun making these and do it every few months to recycle our old crayons! Enjoy and share on our SM pages if you try this at home with your little ones. 


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