Make Crayon Cookies!

Indigo and I had a couple of hours to ourselves yesterday.  While DJ and the Hubby were gone, Indigo and I made Crayon Cookies.  I had seen this idea on a blog I follow called This Mama Makes Stuff and have been waiting to try it.  As luck would have it last weekend, I found old muffin tins at the Goodwill Bins.  Old tins are kind of key unless you want to use (and ruin) the ones you use for muffins.

On Sunday, Indigo gathered up the broken crayons she could find, and we begin taking off the papers.  I was quite amazed at how few crayons she found.  I know there are more and am a bit scared if the kids can’t find them, but that’s a worry for another day.

Once we got the papers off, we sorted them by color.  We then took one of the small muffin tins I found and started layering in various colors into them.  This is where I was torn.  Part of me wanted to put like colors together that way they could be “new crayons”.  But, the other part wanted to see what would happen if we put all of the different colors together.  I gave Indigo the choice, and she decided we were mixing up colors.

Earlier in the day, I found a bottle of glitter someone had given me.  (And I thanked God that the girls had not found it before me because I’m sure the upstairs would be full of glitter.)  Once the crayons were in the tins, we sprinkled glitter over top, so they would be a bit glittery.

Then it was into the oven for melting.  (225 degrees worked best.)  I kept a pretty close eye on them and probably pulled them out a bit early.  They were about 90% melted, and I had hoped the heat of the melted crayons would finish melting the rest.  It didn’t quite happen that way.  Regardless, they turned out pretty well once they set up hard.

I was a bit worried because I didn’t read the instructions very closely. 

(Let’s make this #101 in the About Emmy list – I rarely read directions or instructions for anything.  And, I must say that it rarely prevents me from getting something put together, a recipe made, or able to play a game.  This can be a pretty frustrating if you are like the Hubby and feel that directions/instructions are there for  a reason and must be thoroughly read.) 

Anyway, I didn’t read the instructions closely enough and missed the suggestion that you spray the non-stick muffin tins with a little oil to ensure the crayons would come out.  It really didn’t matter.  For the one that didn’t come out, I threw it in the mudroom where it is colder, and it came out without a problem. 

Now the girls have “new crayons”.  Sure they are a little chunky – but they work.  And, we had fun doing it.  I think I’m going to encourage the Hubby to bring home his huge bin of broken crayons at school.  It’s easy enough to melt them back together, and it would make them more useful than they are today (in tiny pieces). 

Instead of throwing away the broken crayons, give this a try.  It’s a nice alternative.