Once upon a time, when I was young and stupid, I accidently left my huge collection of crayons in the back seat of my dad’s car one warm day in July. I probably don’t need to tell you what happened, but let’s just say that Jerry Garcia would have been proud.
If you have worn out and broken crayons, don’t toss them. Get ready to create some beautiful home decorations with your kids.
1. Shave your broken crayons and arrange the shavings into a shape between 2 sheets of wax paper. Melt the wax with an iron and cut out ornaments or even jewelry from the warm wax. Remove the paper and let cool.
2. Make them into new crayons! Place pieces and shavings into muffin tins and melt in the oven just until the colors run together. Pop out and you have a multi-colored crayon kids will love. You can also do this in the microwave by putting crayons in dixie cups.
3. Hold on to those “Evening Wonder” Blacks and “Forest Brown”‘s because they work great on scratched furniture.
4. If you have carving skills, you could make some wicked crayon sculptures. Make them out of brand new crayons if you’re really talented, or create your own crayon and carve that…since you’ll have a little more meat to work with.
(http://inventorspot.com/articles/crayon_art_12379)
5. Use crayons to add life to white taper candles. Arrange your crayon rejects in a tin can and place it in a bowl of boiling hot water (once the water begins to boil, turn the heat off and let the crayons sit in the water until they melt). Do not stir it, or else the colors will run together. Once the crayons have melted, dip the candles into the melted crayons and you’ve got a rainbow style candle. This is a great idea for birthday candles, too. Just be sure to hold the candle by the wick when you dip it in the wax.
6. Sidenote to #5, you can make your own candles with melted crayons by sticking a wick in an assorted collection of crayons and letting the wax melt. Shave it to create the desired shape.
7. Crayons make great fill material for small gouges or holes in resilient flooring. Get out your crayon box and select a color that most closely matches the floor. Melt the crayon in the microwave over wax paper on medium power, a minute at a time until you have a pliant glob of color. Now, with a plastic knife or putty knife, fill the hole. Smooth it over with a rolling pin, a book, or some other flat object. You’ll find the crayon cools down quickly. Now wax the floor, to provide a clear protective coating over your new fill.
Feeling crafty? Check out these other awesome crayon crafts that you can easily do with your kids!:
- Butterfly Suncatchers from Two-Daloo
- Crayon Hearts from Family Sponge
- Paper Lantern from Artsy Fartsy Mama
- Hot Metal Crayon Art from Still Parenting
- Recycled Crayons from Meet the Dubiens
- Molded Crayon Bracelet from Come Together Kids
- Crayon Art from Artful Expression
- Recycled Crayon Candles from Creative Ideas
Knowledge is power! Learn fun facts, hints and tips, and creative ways to use every day items with “The Buzz” posts on Thursday.
The Hob-bee Hive 