If your kids are anything like mine, there’s a good chance that every time you buy them a box of crayons, the majority of them end up in broken pieces scattered all around the house. In the past, I used to just throw these pieces away as they were destined to never be used again. But nowadays I collect these pieces so I can upcycle them and make brand new crayons that will get used over and over again.
If you’re not familiar with the term ‘upcycling’, it basically means to reuse discarded objects or materials in a way that creates a product of higher quality or value than it originally was.
So, in this case, I’m taking discarded crayons that will most likely never be used again, and I’m making them into nice new crayons that the little ones just can’t wait to get their hands on!
Want to learn how I do it? Then make sure you read on …
You will need:
- Silicone mould in a design of your choice (I used this dinosaur one from Amazon)
- A selection of different coloured crayons
Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 100°C/212°F/Gas Mark 1. Next, work on removing the wrappers from the crayons. This can be quite tricky, so you might want to run a knife down the length of the wrapper to make it a little easier.
2. Break the crayons into small pieces and fill each of the spaces in the mould with them. I find that the smaller the pieces, the quicker and easier they melt when I put them in the oven, therefore reducing the chance of them bleeding into any of the neighbouring colours. Make sure you overfill each mould slightly, as they will melt down and take up less space.
You can see in the image below that some of the pieces of crayon in my mould look quite big, but I actually broke them down a little more after I took the picture as I was worried they wouldn’t melt efficiently.
3. Place the mould on a baking tray and bake in the oven for around 10-12 minutes, or until the crayons have melted completely.
4. Remove the baking tray from the oven very carefully, so as not to spill any of the melted crayons. Leave on a flat surface to cool for a few minutes.
5. Once the crayons have started to cool down, transfer the mould to the freezer for around 20 minutes to speed up the hardening process.
6. When the bottom of the mould is completely cool, it’s time to release the crayons from it. Start by gently pulling and stretching the mould to loosen the crayons, then push each crayon up and out from the bottom. I tend to be a little heavy handed when completing this step, and you can see from the image below that I accidentally snapped a couple of the crayons as I released them from the mould. Oops!
If the mould is still warm when you take it out of the freezer, put it back and check it again after 10 minutes. It should definitely be cool the second time around.
And, voila, you now have a nice new set of shaped crayons! How cool do they look? You’ll very often get a couple of minor imperfections when melting crayons like this. But I like them as I think it adds to their character. What do you think?
Oscar, my 3-year-old, loves it when we melt crayons down into new shapes, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on this set of dinosaur shaped ones. He pinched them as soon as I’d finished taking photographs of them for this post and spent the rest of the afternoon drawing on some paper with them. Aww.
So there you have it, my tutorial on how to upcycle old crayons in 6 simple steps. Since I started upcycling them early last year I’ve saved a small fortune on crayon purchases, so I definitely feel it’s worth the time and effort to do.
Have you ever upcycled old crayons in this way before?
Let me know what you think of upcycling by leaving me a comment below.
Thank you for reading guys.
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I dont have children, but this is such a fun and innovative idea 😉 x
This is such a great idea Louise and they turned out fab! I’ll be trying this with all the broken crayons in our craft box 🙂
These look so cool, I think I’m going to save some old crayons and make some for my daughter. X
Viki recently posted…Mummy + Me | March 2017
Wow these look great! What an excellent idea, i’m surprised i’ve never seen these before!
OK this is absolute genius! Totally sharing with my friend for when her bairn is a bit older
Wow – this is a brilliant idea! I love it – so resourceful. I hate waste so this is fab.
Katy Stevens recently posted…Aims for April 2017 – Have a nosy at what I want to achieve!
What a genius idea. I love it and must give it a blast, we have lots of crayons that this would be suitable for x
This is such a good idea, I’d have never thought to recycle old crayons, but I bet kids get through so many of them x
This is so cute, great idea!
A wonderful idea 🙂 I hate throwing things away so this is a perfect way of recycling ! xx
brilliant idea! very impressed
This is literally such a cute idea for making good use of broken crayons! I love the little dinosaurs they are so cute x
This is amazing! I would never think of doing this but I am definitely going to try it!
five little doves recently posted…Win a family pass to Geronimo Festival!
This is such a fab idea! I love the idea of upcycling anyway, I do it all the time with my candles so it’s great to see new projects. I’m all for reusing things and it totally saves money.
This looks brilliant! Love the idea of using diffrent moulds to crate different shapes. Something unique for each kid 🙂
I love this idea – we have so many broken crayons every day! I will definitely try this. Kaz x
Ickle Pickle recently posted…Tonka Tinys
This is such a great idea. I love the dinosaur shapes crayons!
Mellissa Williams recently posted…Tonka Tinys
This is such a great idea, and the kids will love them in different shapes!
Stephanie recently posted…7 Great Easter Egg Crafts
That’s such good creative idea, I think every child will love dinosaurs crayons. xx
This is pretty amazing!! They would make cool gifts
Lyndsey O’Halloran recently posted…Meal Plan Monday: Guest Posts
I saw this on Pinterest and thought what a fabulous idea! I remember how annoying it was to get down to a tiny piece of crayon, especially when it’s little fingers holding them, and I hate waste, so this is a perfect solution!
Aw wow this is such a cool idea!
So much cuter than the original crayons! I love this idea! You could even melt some together and make multi coloured ones!
Emma recently posted…La Cabane des Praz – Les Praz de Chamonix, Chamonix, France
we love doing this too. we have some alphabet moulds which are good fun and I’ve given children’s names in crayons for gifts before now x
Fab post. My kids are forever breaking their crayons.
Oh my goodness. I’m defo gonna have to do this. I get so sick of chucking out broken crayons x
Kerry norris recently posted…Win a Peppa Pig Bundle to celebrate the launch of new cinema release
What a great idea, my son would adore these
Kara recently posted…Easter Egg Hunting Fun with Tesco
This would be a great thing to do for party bags for little ones, especially if you have a party theme!
Sarah Hughes recently posted…5 (ALMOST) FREE ACTIVITIES TO ENJOY WITH YOUR PARTNER DURING A DIGITAL DETOX
That’s so much fun! This is such a great way to get more use out of all those busted crayons we have floating around the house.
This is so cute!! I hate having waste around (and with kids and crayons there is always a ton!). This is a great way to use up left over crayons!
I think my kids are going to love this. Just the idea of melting down crayons for any reason would appeal to them.
Bill Sweeney recently posted…Nature’s Recipe: Healthy and Beneficial Food for Your Dog
Now that is just a perfect idea! Love it! We used to melt old crayons between wax paper and make stained glassed “windows” – this is an even better and more functional idea!
Joely Smith recently posted…Wordless Wednesday Fortune Cookie
Now, that is brilliant! Those new crayons are the cutest things ever! I wish I had known about this when my kids were little and we went through crayons like crazy.
When you have kids, broken crayons are a way of life. I love how creative you were in upcycling them! Bravo!
Those turned out so nice! Every time I try something with crayons all I get are a bunch of bubbles…
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I’ve always wanted to make fun crayon molds like these but have never gotten around to it. I should grab a cute mold like you have and make something!
Brilliant! And the end result is perfection! These would make wonderful little party favors and I’d feel so good about using all the broken bits to make something!
Omgosh this is beyond adorable. I want to try this project. The dinosaurs are so stinkin cute!
You are right, buying a box of crayons seems endless. This is a brilliant idea.
This is such a great way to use up those crayon stubs. They would make great additions as party favours in gift bags too.
I love this idea and plan on doing this with my son’s old broken crayons at the end of the school year. I have some lego and guitar molds to use.
uprunforlife recently posted…5 Guiltless Healthy Salad Dressings that will Tantalize your Taste Buds
That is such a cute idea for upcycling crayons! My kids would love this!!!
My son prefers markers over crayons. Yet, as a momma, I’d prefer he’d use the less of a mess crayons. I do think having dinosaurs to color with might interest him a little more.
I did this with my kids too, but I used multiple colors to make one giant crayon. Definitely a great way to upcycle bits of broken crayons.
Who would have thought that you. Oils make something that cool with old, broken crayons. What a fun project to work on with the little ones.
I have not done this yet but it is on my list to do for my son’s birthday party this year as part of the goodie bags.
Awesome! My daughter is a little older but she still has a giant stash of broken crayons. Upcycling is her favorite word (seriously!) and she would love to try making cute shapes out of those broken crayons.
🙂
Traci
What a fun idea. My Mom used to do this when I was little. Of course our methods were archaic back then. Love the upcycled better than the new with this mold.
Shirley Wood recently posted…DIY Canvas Map Wall Art
Those dinosaur molds are just too adorable! I need to do this with all of our broken crayons.
This is such a good idea! I have never thought to do this. These would be a fun gift for a child’s birthday, thank you for the idea!
I have tons of old crayons here from the kids. We did this once, but I would like to do this again and then gift them! Love the dinos!
Oh my goodness I love this idea! Wish I knew about this when my son was younger!
What a cute idea! You know what? I have that exact mold!
I love this upcycle crayon ideas. I wish I knew this as a kid I had so many crayons I could of made fun molds with. It would be fun to make multicolored crayons by putting lots of different colors in one mold.
I love this idea! I have melted down old crayons in muffin pans before – but love that you used shaped pans. So cute.
Alicia Taylor recently posted…Berry Crumble Slow Cooker Recipe and the low-FODMAP Diet
Oh this is awesome what a great idea to go with old crayons. awesome. I am baby sitting on wednesday and she would love this.
Not only is this a cost effective practice to save a bit of money, but its a good activity to get the kids involved in at a young age to start to understand the importance of ‘upcycling’ or even ‘recycling’ for the environment. So they effectively end up getting a new gift (the recycled crayons), learning about the environment and also having fun seeing the whole thing happen. Genius!
What a great idea! My kids are a little beyond this now but a great tip to keep in mind….. maybe for grandkids in the future!
Beautiful. I will try it with my little daughter, she is already into her summer holidays
Such a great idea! Congrats for the creativity! This is great not only for kids, but for playful adluts like me. 😉
This is such a fabulous idea, I am going to try it now with my little girl. She will be thrilled since we have so much unused crayon. Thank you so much.
I love this. These kids here have so many crayons that never get used up because they always want new ones at the beginning of every term. All I need is a silicone mould, I will use Lou’s style to upcycle those crayons.
Sooo cute!
They look edible though!
Oh wow sooo cute! Love this idea!
My little kids will love this! He will want all Dino crayons!
Kristin recently posted…Easy Spring Craft for Toddlers
This looks like great fun. #ablogginggoodtime
Love this! One year we made mixed up crayon discs by putting different colours together in round moulds. The result was really pretty and super-fun to colour with! #ablogginggoodtime
great ideas for no waste!
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I love this! Anything to avoid having to spend money, and make less waste? Brilliant! I’ve even upcycled candles by taking the last little bits of wax and melting them over a double boiler and putting them in a freshly cleaned jar with a new wick. Such fun!!!
Ashley Grant recently posted…Bloggy Friends Spotlight – Stephanie Fields
Awesome post! I love it! I wish I had thought of this when my kiddos were young!
I keep meaning to do this with all the random pieces of crayon that I find scattered around the house! Really must get round to it 🙂 #bloggerpinparty
Sara | mumturnedmom recently posted…Snapshots after a snowstorm
Love this idea so much and the dinosaurs are so cute. Thanks for joining #bloggerpinparty
This sounds such a simple and fun idea. I wish I had thought of it when my children were younger. I think my grandson would love dinosaur crayons.
I made these for my nephew and gift wrapped them for Easter he loved them.The necks broke on 2 of my dinosaurs also.