I recently discovered that it is possible to melt old crayons! My first thought was, "Make a crayon ring, and enter it in the Ring Challenge." After several failed attempts I realized that this was not going to be as easy as it had seemed at first, but, as the old saying goes, "Where there's a will, there's a way." This saying worked for my crayon ring, as it does for the rest of life. After many tries, I finally discovered this method of making a crayon ring. Enjoy!

Note: If you do not like to clean dirty things, then this instructable is not for you. It involves a lot of hard, messy, material that will need to be cleaned up. That said, have fun!

Step 1: How to Make a Ring Mold

To make the mold you will need:

A ring to copy
Three pieces of paper
A hot glue gun
A healthy dose of patience and tenacity

First, roll up a piece of paper and fit it inside of your model ring. Tape the paper tube at this diameter, and shorten the tube to approx. the height of the ring. Next, make a similar tube for the outside of the ring. Press the outer tube, inner tube, and model ring against a piece of paper. Glue the perimeter of the outer ring to the paper and fill the inner circle with hot glue, so that it is all firmly attached to the paper (except for the ring, of course.) Remove the ring from this setup, and....ta-da....you have a mold for your upcycled crayon ring!

Step 2: How to Make the Ring

What you'll need:

A razor
Crayons
Two bowls
A microwave
The mold you made in the last step
A key ring to help reinforce the ring

Using a razor, cut the paper off of the crayons. At this point you have two options. First, you can break the crayons into approx. 3/4" pieces for a separated look. Second, you can put the crayons in a bag, and beat them into pulp with a hammer, making for a uniform look. Whichever way you choose, you are sure to end up with a special ring!

Combine your crayons in a bowl and put them in the microwave. Next, put a small bowl of water in the microwave beside the bowl of crayons. The water provides the crayons with moisture, and helps protect them from burning. Heat the combination in increments of 60 seconds, until you are satisfied with the liquid. Pour the melted crayons into the mold you made in the last step. Fill the mold half way, wait about a minute, and then place a key ring squarely in the middle of the partially dried crayon. Finish pouring the crayon, and wait for it to dry. Carefully remove the paper mold by tearing it away.

Step 3: Finishing the Ring

When I first attempted to round the edges of the ring I used a metal file. As you can probably guess, that did not turn out well! I now have an orange file. :-) In the end, I decided to use a piece of old sandpaper to finish the ring. First, roll up the sandpaper and sand the inside until it fits your finger well. Next, sand the outside and round the edges, until you are happy with the way it looks. Enjoy your one-of-a-kind, homemade, upcycled, crayon ring! You never know when you'll need a crayon!