DIY Muffin Tin Marbled Crayons

I first saw this idea in a book called The Tightwad Gazette. If you've never read this book series (there are three volumes in all), I recommend it. The author writes well, and she makes everything--even composting dryer lint--entertaining.

These large crayons are a nice size for little toddler hands to grab, and they are a wonderful way to use up broken crayon tidbits. For this project, I bought a new box of 48 crayons at Dollar Tree, but I think in the future I'd stick with Crayolas (see note below). I think these would make really cute party favors for a toddler birthday party--just be sure to distribute them as the kiddos walk out the front door unless you favor ankle height marbled crayon wall "murals"!

Making these crayons is a piece of cake (cupcake?) Start by removing the papers from the crayons. I found that the easiest way to do this was to tear a thin line at the seam from the tip of the crayon to the base. The whole paper came off in one big piece this way.

Break the crayons into thirds or fourths, and separate them into color families. Place each color family in a separate cup in a muffin tin. This is important; if you mix too many colors together in one cup, you'll make a lot of mud-colored crayons! Once you have your color categories, mix the crayons around a little bit within each cup so that the shades of each color are distributed within each cup (this helps to create the marbled effect).

Place the tin in a 300 degree oven. After about 2 minutes have passed, start checking on the crayons every 1 to 2 minutes. Pull the tin out when the crayons have melted to the point that you can't see any more individual crayon shapes (basically, you want liquid in your tin).

Cool the crayons completely. I made these in the winter, so I just placed the tray on a table on the back porch and they hardened quickly. You can also cool the tin in the freezer for a few minutes. Once they have hardened completely, pop the crayons out into your hand or onto a soft dish towel (so that they don't break).

That's it! My one complaint about this batch is that a clear layer of wax rose to the top when I cooked these, so that the first few scribbles with that edge of the crayon didn't produce any color on the page (frustrating for my toddler, who is still unclear on the concept of coloring). I think this may have been the result of using cheapo crayons. Remember as a kid how the freebie crayons in restaurants never drew as smoothly as the Crayolas at home? Once in a while, you get what you pay for! I'd recommend stocking up on Crayolas during back to school sales in the fall if you plan to make these for a big group.

Have fun!

Posted at DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land