MINI-MUFFIN CRAYONS... A New Life for Broken Crayons!

 by AlwaysAllTheTimeCrafting
Featured
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''''Broken crayons?!? Don't throw them away...MAKE OLD CRAYONS-NEW AGAIN! Up-cycle your broken crayons into MINI-MUFFIN SIZED CRAYONS. You will love the tie-dyed look and your young artists will love the mini-disc size---just right for small hands!

'Package in clear plastic bags and tie with a ribbon for clever, inexpensive birthday party favors!

Start the search--collect all your broken crayons from the bottom of the art drawer and from leftover boxes brought home from school...Enjoy this quick and fun activity with your kids.

Step 1: ITEMS YOU WILL NEED

-Oven- Preheated to 275 degrees
-Mini-muffin pan
-As many broken/unwanted crayons as you can find!
-Oven mitt
-Refrigerator- To cool melted crayons after "baking"
-Dish towel

Step 2: Remove the Paper Crayon Labels

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-It may take several minutes to peel all the paper labels off the crayons. Many kids enjoy this activity. You may want to sort crayons by color as you remove the labels.

-This is also a good time to break any whole crayons into smaller pieces.

Step 3: ARRANGE THE BROKEN CRAYONS IN A MINI-MUFFIN TIN

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-Fill the mini-muffin tin with the broken crayons. I suggest filling the cup up to the top since when the crayons melt, the volume will be less.

Try mixing colors for a swirled "tie-dye" look or make solid colors if you seem to have 100's of broken orange crayons!

Step 4: MELT THE CRAYONS

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-Put on an oven mitt and place the mini-muffin tin in your pre-heated 275 degree oven.
-The crayons should be melted in about 10-13 minutes.
-Only an adult should remove the melted crayons from the oven! Carefully place the hot muffin tin on a heat resistant surface and let cool for about 25 minutes. Then place tin in your refrigerator or freezer for about 5-10 minutes. If you place in the refrigerator/freezer before cooled- the muffins may crack from the extreme temp. change.
-Invert the muffin tin onto a dish towel covered surface and the chilled mini-muffin sized crayons should fall right out. The dish towel lessens the surface impact as the crayons fall from the tin.

*Great way to use dull and broken crayons brought home by students at the end of the school year!

*Wrap the mini-muffin crayons in clear plastic bags and tie with a ribbon and use as birthday favors!

*Any muffin tin shape or oven safe candy mold will work for this easy project...just remember to monitor while "baking" if your pan/tin is smaller.

*Since crayons are non-toxic you should not have to worry about baking real muffins in your favorite tin.
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tmulvey says: Oct 25, 2012. 10:00 AM
I am having trouble getting them out of the mini muffin pans. Can anyone give me some ideas? Thanks!
Emma456 says: May 2, 2010. 11:16 AM
Can you use cupcake liners?
AlwaysAllTheTimeCrafting (author) in reply to Emma456Jul 5, 2012. 3:45 PM
Worth a try- I have not attempted that. So many cute liners are available- would be nice if that worked. Let me know if that works out!
kaylaangelkisses says: May 5, 2012. 11:20 AM
Amazing! I've heard off this type of re-using before, but never tried it. In a couple hours, after i find some crayons, I will.
robotguy4 says: Jun 23, 2009. 10:38 PM
Could you make candles this way? Just add a wick?
GummiBear in reply to robotguy4Dec 3, 2011. 10:30 AM
Yea but just let the crayons cool for a minute then poke the wick in when the top of the crayon looks solid and lightly press your finger or a toothpick or somethng to press the wax onto the crayon/candle
thepelton says: Jun 19, 2009. 11:47 AM
There are other varieties of muffin tins. I recall seeing one in cast Iron that made muffins the shape of corn cobs.
animal lover in reply to thepeltonNov 23, 2011. 10:17 PM
cool, next holloween I'll buy bone shaped muffin tins to make these.
drummgurl says: Oct 31, 2011. 1:13 PM
I'm a recent art student graduate and this is a great idea for all my left over crayons! My boyfriend has two small nieces and I thought this would be a cute xmas gift...extremely pocket friendly :) Thanks for the share!!!
lindsaylovescrayons says: Oct 30, 2011. 3:03 PM
These Was Super Fun And Super Easy!!!! Had Great Results (:<3!
TheHappyHomemaker says: Sep 14, 2009. 9:13 AM
I just tried this a little while ago, and my results were great. I am getting a head start on Christmas, and thought this was the cutest idea, and an adorable stocking stuffer for my daughters. To package, I am going to cut the tall tops off of the transparent blue bags that our newspaper comes delivered in, and tie them off with decorative ribbon. Thanks again for the idea!
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AlwaysAllTheTimeCrafting (author) in reply to TheHappyHomemakerOct 23, 2009. 4:55 PM
I'm giving some to my favorite Trick or Treaters~  Love your photo...
hvansick in reply to AlwaysAllTheTimeCraftingSep 26, 2011. 1:11 PM
What a great idea!! I love giving something other than candy that is still fun to get on Halloween. :) They don't need any more sugar than they're already getting.
Mrballeng says: Jun 27, 2011. 12:50 AM
Good thinking. You think you could use chocolate molds to pour characters?
mariaceleste says: Oct 15, 2010. 4:55 PM
The kids and I have made this project a few times. Love it and so easy. Don't mix in washable crayons though, big mistake, they stay soft.
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drperez says: Jun 17, 2010. 2:38 PM
Great instructible! it was tons of fun with the kids. We asked their elementary school teachers for all their broken crayon bits and returned the new crayons back to the them. Also tried some using Ikea ice molds and being able to use the the oven was much easier than the microwave. Thanks!
fragile.ecstasy says: Dec 15, 2009. 9:31 PM
Could you do this with paper cupcake liners inside of the tin, or would it mess up the paper and/or permanently fuse it to the crayons? I want to do this for my daughter's birthday, and I have hundreds of those little liners I'd love to use up.
ian7720 in reply to fragile.ecstasyDec 23, 2009. 12:13 PM
Hey, I made a batch of these using the liners and they ended up working out fine. The reason I used them is because I was hoping they would be a little bit less messy, but in the end they really didn't seem to end up helping.
AlwaysAllTheTimeCrafting (author) in reply to fragile.ecstasyDec 16, 2009. 4:05 AM
All of my cupcake liners are crimped/folded around the edges- not sure if the melted crayons would stick inside the folds- maybe your liners are different. 
I suggest you make the cupcake crayons without the liner and then when ready to package them (for gifts), place each one in a liner (then).  Good luck.
fragile.ecstasy in reply to AlwaysAllTheTimeCraftingDec 18, 2009. 4:25 AM
does anyone know a good way to keep the larger side of this (the side that is on top in the pan) smooth? I noticed all the photos I can find of these here or in etsy/hyena shops show the pan side only, so maybe it isn't just me? I'm sure they'll smooth out with use, but is there anyway to have them come out level?
kaylaangelkisses in reply to fragile.ecstasyMay 5, 2012. 4:21 PM
I just finished, and I just melted them down for 13 minutes. I used a diffrent caryon for one and it didn't melt compleatly. Then I left it on the counter for 15 min like it said, and put it straight in the frezzer a.s.a.p and i left it in there for 40 min by acdent. Some broke but it was so smooth.

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Wa wawa wa.wa wa wawawa wa wa wawa do de do.
abandon your idols says: Jul 17, 2009. 1:52 PM
I just tried this with my little brothers, who are 12 and 8. (I'm 18, and I loveeed this, it was fun) and we had a blast! But there are some things to add: --You can use lots of different kinds of crayons, we used glow-in-the-dark and sparkly crayons --We also used a regular sized muffin tin and doubled the cooking & cooling times --With the bigger tins, we learned that it was best to use only a few colors per tin or else they kinda swirl together to make a brown mess.
shinyegg says: Jul 13, 2009. 3:10 PM
Another cool idea is to heat up the broken crayons slowly in a mini toaster oven, then rub the tip over a smooth surface, like a rock. When the wax cools, you have a cool looking colored rock, kind of like ones you can buy in stores. They look really cool if you use more than one crayon or one of those multicolored crayons.
sallost says: Jun 20, 2009. 8:38 AM
this is a nice instructable. 1 little question, I stumbled upon this idea on a blog. Is it yours or are you a similar thinking person? Keep up the good work!
mg0930mg in reply to sallostJun 27, 2009. 11:03 PM
People have been doing this for forever.
canida says: Jun 20, 2009. 8:03 AM
Very nice! I was thinking these could make a fun and functional necklace - you just drill a hole in the center of each (or block a space when melting) and adding a piece of yarn or string.
mg0930mg in reply to canidaJun 27, 2009. 11:01 PM
Put a clearcoat or sealant on it, so it doesn't rub off on you. :)
swartley3ga in reply to canidaJun 24, 2009. 7:52 AM
I love the necklace Idea! maybe make a loose necklace with a big crayon pendant for impromptu coloring and no more crayons in the pockets when I do laundry! I love it! The author should really try that and and add it for some added variety....Portable crayons (that don't get laundered lol)
bubbles983 says: Jun 27, 2009. 3:38 PM
yeah, i guess that these are pretty AMAZING!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! <3 i have sooo many old crayons and now i know exactly what to do with them! and then when they are ready, i can COLOR WITH THEM TO?!?!?!? AH-mazing!!!! great idea!!
ruthy nov says: Jun 25, 2009. 4:21 PM
something else to do with broken crayons: Cover an ironing surface with newspapr. Take a sheet of brown paper (or paper bag) and grate the crayosn on it. Play with the colors. Cover the grated crayons with another newspaper. Iron with a mild heat. It looks great and makes very good wrapping for a gift.
AlwaysAllTheTimeCrafting (author) in reply to ruthy novJun 25, 2009. 4:30 PM
Cool idea! Will try and use as wrapping paper. When I was a kid, I used to put crayon shavings between two sheets of wax paper. Then I would "press" with a warm iron...the crayons shavings would melt and the colors would "spread" . Then I would cut out hearts or other shapes and hang in my bedroom window...looked like mini stained glass windows.
AlwaysAllTheTimeCrafting (author) in reply to AlwaysAllTheTimeCraftingJun 25, 2009. 4:33 PM
I should clarify...the two layers of wax paper and melted crayons would seal together as though laminated...No irons were damaged much to the concern of my mother!
sewmargaretsew says: Jun 23, 2009. 7:53 AM
L-O-V-E this idea! Your Instructable is easy to follow and very clear and detailed! Now I have something to do with all my broken crayons. I enjoyed your variation of a popular idea. Variations are the key to advancements, and furthering ideas. The larger size makes removing the newly melted crayons easier and very kid friendly. Again, I appreciate your creative variation because it is one that fits my artistic needs better then any of the others.
EmmettCullenrocks says: Jun 22, 2009. 12:55 PM
cool
thepelton says: Jun 22, 2009. 9:48 AM
This would be a great project for a Kindergarten teacher to do in June.
lukethebook333 says: Jun 21, 2009. 4:26 PM
Good idea, and good instructable. The only problem is, that if you look under related it shows 2 other instructables that were also featured and are extremely similar to this one.
robotguy4 says: Jun 20, 2009. 12:35 PM
Mmmmm... Tasty...

Wait... I SAID WHAT?

You could also melt said crayons in a solar oven, however, make sure that said solar oven is weighed down if its windy. Melted wax is a pain to clean off of tinfoil and concrete... It looks cool, though..
wupme says: Jun 20, 2009. 9:53 AM
Now i need some crayons :( Should i buy some, brake them in the middle, and then melt ? ;-)
EaglesNest says: Jun 18, 2009. 3:19 PM
I tried doing this recently with another brand of crayons (not Crayola) and found that the cheap brand turned into a mud brown mess. They didn't keep their distinct colors the way Crayola does. The cheap brands must be something other than wax?
wupme in reply to EaglesNestJun 20, 2009. 9:53 AM
Maybee the temprature was to high? If wax gets to hot it tends to form "swirls" and those could mix the colours up. I'm always for lower temprature and more time on things like this.
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