Hello all of my crafty friends! I wanted to make a blog post about what my family does every year to support The Teal Pumpkin Project, which if you haven't heard of it, is a great movement to encourage inclusion for kids with serious food allergies so they can safely trick or treat on Halloween. If you see a teal pumpkin on someone's doorstep, that means that house has fun toys, games, or another alternative to candy that doesn't contain many of the most common allergens like milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soy etc.. that many kids are sensitive to! If you want to find out more, visit their website here!!:
So what we make every year as sort of a tradition in our house are these fun sugar skull crayons that are made from recycling all of the bits of crayons we end up with every year. My daughter went through a few years where she was obsessed with removing all of the paper wrappers from the crayons, so we ended up with lots of nubs and broken bits in our crafty box! A few of these are even a bit furry they've been in that craft box so long. Fear not.. furry crayons can and will work for this project!
I sort of despised all of these broken sad crayon bits, but I'm also a huge fan of not letting things go to waste. So after a big cleaning spree and sorting through all of the crafty supplies in my daughters room and discovering a HUGE pile of these broken, wrapperless, crayon nubs, this is what we came up with to turn them into something new and beautiful again!
How To:
First things first, get yourself a silicone mold. They come in about a million shapes these days! I picked up this pretty sweet sugar skull one at Michael's, the brand is CelebrateIt. You can find a similar one here.
Mine has been in use for a few years now and it shows! Do expect some level of waxy residue to remain on your mold. I wouldn't recommend using it for any future food projects after you start making crayons, but you can do what you want. Start Preheating your oven! I do 275F!
Place all of those broken sad crayon bits in your mold. I break them into 1/2" - 1" chunks. I like to make sure each one has a bit of lighter color like a white or a peach, as those seem to swirl nicely with the darker colors. If you have chunks of those thick toddler crayons that are hard to break, you can use a sharp knife to cut smaller pieces. They will melt down some so you can even fill them a bit higher than I've shown to make thicker crayons. *Be sure to put your mold on a cookie sheet!* I don't want you spilling hot wax all over your oven or your kitchen floor!
I usually bake them 15-20 minutes at 275F or until they look to be totally melted. Carefully remove your cookie sheet from the oven and let them cool. I have found that sometimes you will have a few chunks that no matter what don't want to melt. Don't stress over those. I just use a toothpick and sort of pop them under the surface. Also use your toothpick to pop any bubbles you see while the wax is liquid. After 5-10 minutes they will be about half solid and you can pop the mold into the freezer for a minute or two to speed up the hardening.
You just pop them out one by one, and voila! You have awesome new crayons! The best part is the surprise of seeing how all of the different colors swirled and mixed.
And then you start another batch!! You will probably have to recruit the neighborhood kids to peel labels off the crayons for you, but this is such a fun family activity! So remember this craft every October and make a few extras so your family can join in on The Teal Pumpkin Project!!
I also pair some with candy for the kiddos who are able to have sweets! You can do both and still support The Teal Pumpkin Project! Just remember to keep your food and non food treats separate :)
As an extra bonus idea, as I know a lot of you crafty mommas are out there doing craft shows this time of year. Whenever I am doing fall markets, these are a great giveaway to pair with a business card and maybe a lollipop! I guarantee your treat won't get thrown away! Plus they are just so fun to gift! I love these as well as giveaway treats at Halloween parties!
So I hope you loved this DIY idea! You could certainly do beautiful Christmas or Easter ones as well, you just need to find the perfect mold for your occasion! Tag me over on our Instagram or Facebook @theartwerks #theartwerks if you decide to make some! I'd love to see yours!
All the Best,
Melissa
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