Making Crayons on the Stove

This is the third batch of crayons I’ve recycled. You can see the earlier sets here and here.

New Plastic Molds and… Glitter!

It’s fun to do something different with each batch. I’ve always wanted to try making crayons in plastic molds, but it took me a while to find molds in a shape and size that I liked. Both of the crayon molds I’ve used so far, cupcake pans and sunflower mini cake pans, are round, so I especially liked these round Wilton animal candy molds (on the right). You can see an enlarged image of them here. I found my molds at JoAnns, where they were about $2.00 each, but I used 40% off coupons.

I couldn’t resist these car molds, intended for Jello, even though they aren’t round. They’re so cute and they were 2/50¢ at a tag sale!

The four little tubes contain very fine glitter, another thing to try for the first time. It was 50¢ in the clearance area of JoAnns. You can read here (scroll down) how its meant to be used in silk screening!, shrug.

Melting Crayons for Plastic Molds

I removed the labels from some soup and veggie cans, thoroughly washed and dried them, then squeezed each one to create a pouring spout. After putting about a half cup of sorted crayon bits in each one, I set them in an old sauce pan. I poured about an inch of water into the pan and turned the stove on low. I didn’t know how high of a temperature the candy molds could take without warping, so I kept it just below a simmer. The top of the can stayed cool enough that I could hold it with my bare hand while filling the molds. I kept a paper towel handy to wipe the bottom of the can each time I took it out of the water, so none could drip into the molds. Remember to keep an eye on the water level and add more as necessary.

Crayons from Candy Molds

My first batch of crayons from candy molds was a great success! The different shades of a color mix together in the can and the crayons come out a solid color. I also found out that if you let them cool completely before tipping them out, the crayons have a nice shiny surface, but if they’re at all warm, they’ll come out dull. That’s all it takes if they’re cool, just turn the mold over and they fall out!

Crayons From Jello Molds

I thought the car molds would be a good place to use all my black crayon bits. I made quite a few before I realized I could be experimenting with my glitter! You can see the amount of red glitter that I sprinkled in the bottom of the upper mold. I was pleased to see that the glitter doesn’t float to the top of the mold, because that would end up the bottom of the cars! I think the ones with a blue “metallic” finish look very good.

And From a New Silicone Mold

This is a Wilton silicone mold intended for cakes and brownies. I think this particular design, 24 mini hearts, has been discontinued. The only one I found on-line was this one on ebay. It sold there for $14.99. Mine was $2.99 at Savers, less a 20% discount.

I made these my old way by putting two layers of crayon pieces in the pan (supported on an old cookie sheet) and baking them at 250 degrees F until they melted. These little heart crayons look solid-colored from the top, but just wait until you see their undersides! I’ve learned that I get my best results when I push them up out of the mold, like this.

See all the different colors of crayon I used!

Lots of Rainbow Crayons!

Here’s the rest of the finished crayons. It’s hard to tell, but these are stacked three and four high. I had enough to bag 103 sets of three to five (depending on size) crayons each! They’re going to make a lot of foster kids happy.

If you have a gas stove, this is a good project to do should your power ever go off. You can get warm and have some fun at the same time. Guess how I know this.

Ideas for Next Time

I already have some ideas I want to try on the next batch. I could make layered crayons, like these. Or I could make marbled crayons by pouring one color, then adding a second and gently swirling them with a bamboo skewer. And who knows what type of mold I may find by then. Check out this fun crayon mold! Each one is 2 3/4 inches long, about the same size as my cars. If anyone lives near an IKEA, you may find some cute molds there too. The ones on their website are just $1.99. Love the fish!

P.S. Someone asked what kind of mold release I use on metal cupcake tins. I haven’t found it necessary to use any! I let the crayons cool, then I flip the tin facedown and rap once on the bottom of each cup with a wooden meat tenderizer mallet. That’s usually does the trick.