How to Use Crayons to Make Candles

You probably don't have too many candles in your home, but you might have too many old and broken crayons lying around. One way to remedy this is to recycle the used crayons into creative crafts, like candles. Because crayons are made of wax, they are simple to melt. This is a craft that your children can take part in, with adult supervision. In a short amount of time, you can have colorful new candles to use in your home or to give as gifts to loved ones.

Things You'll Need

• Paper towels
• Crayons
• Knife
• Paper cups
• Wooden skewers
• Packing string
• Scissors
• Tape
• Pot
• Coffee can
• Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. Cover your work area with paper towels or newspaper to make cleaning up easier. Gather all of the crayons you can find and separate them into groups according to color. Remove the wrappers from the crayons and break into small pieces with a knife.

2. Get a wax-covered paper cup for each candle you want to make and cut slits on either side of the cups, ½ inch deep. Break the wooden skewers in half; you'll need one piece of skewer for each cup. Next, poke holes in the bottoms of the cups with the sharp end of a skewer.

3. Push the string through the hole in the bottom of one cup and tie it to the middle of the wooden skewer. You may need to use a skewer to push the string through the hole.

4. Set the skewer in the slots in the top of the cup. Grasp the string on the underside of the cup and pull until straight but not hard enough to tear the cup where the skewer is resting. Cut the string, leaving a 1-inch tail, and tape it to the underside of the cup.

5. Put 2 inches of water in a large pot and heat to boiling on medium heat. Add crayon pieces in the color of your choice to a small coffee can and place in the boiling water until the crayons melt, stirring often. You can also use a double boiler to melt the crayons.

6. Fill the cups to ½ inch below where you knotted the string on the skewer. Leave the cup of hot wax alone until it cools completely. Melt more crayons in a different color or mix colors to make more candles.

7. Remove the tape from the bottom of the cups and tear the cup off the cooled and hardened candles. Cut the tail of string level with the bottom of the candle and trim the wick to the length you want. You can now use your new crayon candles.

Tips & Warnings

• Use caution when handling melted crayons and the can so you're not burned.

References

• Use Old Crayons to Make Decorative Candles

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish