Green Craft: New Life for Old Crayons

It’s time for a midsummer craft supplies purge at my house, and one big challenge is the massive drawer full of broken crayons. All of our art supplies are in various states of disrepair, sure, but the crayon drawer is the one calling out for creative re-use.

Maybe you have a similar drawer? If so, check out Crafting a Green World for an easy-to-follow tutorial on how to melt down old, broken crayons and turn them into new fun-shaped crayons. The basic idea: soak the crayons to get off the wrappers, put a heap of crayons into each compartment of a muffin tin or silicone mold, and melt slowly in a warm oven. Let the crayons cool and pop them out of the compartments. Voila! New crayons.

For fun molds, I’m partial to the Wilton silicone mini-hearts mold above, $9.99 at Wilton.com or available at any craft store. You might also try Freecycle in your neighborhood to see if anyone else is having a craft supply purge and wants to share a rarely-used mold. Regular muffin tins also work well.

This is an especially good project if you have a special-needs kid who has trouble holding conventional crayons. A ball or egg shape can be easier to hold; you may want to experiment with shapes that your child likes.

Broken crayons, free in your house; Wilton silicone mini-heart mold, $9.99 at Amazon.