How to Use Up Old Crayons

Crayons break and others end up in tiny pieces. We think they are not good for anything else so we throw them away. But there are many other ways to use your leftover crayons. You can use them to make other crafts, you can melt them down to make a new crayon, and you can even use them with candle wax to make a candle. You will need a tin can to keep all of the broken crayons in until you have enough to begin your project.

Things You'll Need

• Broken crayons or crayon pieces
• Foil cupcake holders
• Foil
• Baking sheet or muffin pan
• Cheese grater
• Paper
• Marker
• Glue
• Small white candles
• Wax
• Saucepan
• Tin coffee can
• Water
• Tongs

Instructions

Making New Crayons

1. Set your oven to 150 degrees.

2. Place some foil cup holders in a muffin pan or place some foil on a cookie sheet. You can use any shape cookie cutter you want to place over the foil.

3. Cut your broken crayons in to small pieces if they are not already in small pieces. You can use all one color crayon for each mold or you can make a rainbow.

4. Place the pieces in your foil cupcake holder or cookie cutter.

5. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

6. Wait for the new crayons to cool and then pop them out of their holders.

Making Crafts

1. Shave your crayons. You can do this with a cheese grater. You can get them at the dollar store and then just use that particular one for crayons.

2. Draw a picture on a piece of paper with a marker. This should only be the outline of the picture.

3. Place glue in each section one section at a time.

4. Use the crayon shavings by dropping them in to the appropriate section of the picture. For example, if you drew a duck, you would drip orange shavings in the section that has the beak. You would then drop yellow shavings in the body area. The shavings must go on the glue so that they stick.

5. Wait for the glue to dry and then hang up your new picture.

Making candles

1. Place a saucepan over the stove and half fill it with water. When the water boils, add a tin can to the center of it.

2. Cut up your crayons into small pieces and place in the tin can on the stove.

3. Add a little bit of plain wax and mix together.

4. Place a plain white candle in between two tongs. Drop it into the melted crayon mixture.

5. Take the candle out when the mixture completely covers it and place it into a bucket of cold water. This will harden the candle wax.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 if you want another layer of color on your candle.

Tips & Warnings

• Feel free to shake some glitter over your crayon picture to make it sparkle.

• Make some crayon candles for family as a Christmas present.

• Only adults should handle the melted crayons over boiling water. A small accident can result is serious injury from burns.