How to Get Heart-Shaped Crayons out of the Pan

Recycle broken crayon pieces by using a muffin tin to melt them into new, chunky crayons.

As every parent knows, sooner or later most children end up with an assortment of stubby, broken crayons. The crayons are too short to use for coloring and it seems a like a waste to throw them away. Involve your children in recycling the crayons by peeling off the wrappers and melting similar colors together in mini-muffin tins. You may even wish to use heart-shaped tins for Valentine's Day. Regardless of whether you're using a regular tin or a heart-shaped mold, removing the new, chunky crayons from the tins is easy.

Things You'll Need

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• Freezer
• Broken crayons
• Mini muffin tin
• Oven

Instructions

The Vegetable Oil Method

1. Spray a clean, dry mini-muffin tin with vegetable oil cooking spray.

2. Spread the oil around with your fingers to ensure that all the crevices are covered.

3. Place your crayon stubs into the tin and bake until they're melted together. Take the tin out of the oven to cool.

4. Flex the tin slightly to loosen the chunky crayons from the side.

5. Flip the tin over on your counter. The cooled crayons should pop right out.

6. Wipe off any oily residue with a paper towel.

The Freezer Method

1. Place your crayon stubs into the tin and bake until they're melted together. Take the tin out of the oven to cool.

2. Wait until the tin is cool enough to handle. Place the entire tin into the freezer.

3. Remove the tin from the freezer after it's been in there at least 30 minutes. The freezer should cause the wax to contract and pull away from the sides of the tin.

4. Flex the tin to loosen the chunky crayons.

5. Flip the tin over on your counter. The cooled crayons should pop right out.

Tips & Warnings

• Preheat your oven to 250 F and bake your crayons for 10 to 15 minutes, checking on them frequently.

• You can also use both approaches with plastic candy molds. Melt the crayons in paper cups in your microwave, and then pour the melted wax into the candy molds.

• Once you've used a muffin tin to make crayons, you shouldn't use it to make edible goodies. If you are attached to your current muffin tin, seek out a used one at the thrift store for this project.

References

• Make and Takes; Recycled Chunky Crayons; September 2007
• Disney Family Fun; Crayon Hearts
• Whimsy Love; Cool Chunky Crayons Tutorial; July 2008

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish