New Crayons from Old One
We just wrapped a photo shoot at my new house where the photographer Jennifer Levy was shooting my new 2010 wall calendar. Yes, you read that right: 2010. We shoot WAY WAY WAY in advance, don't we?
Anyway, one of the projects we photographed was an idea in recycling old crayons into something new, fun and functional. I took a bunch of runty old crayons and placed them (unwrapped) in an old baking pan in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Here's the mess all melted and looking very cool and tie-dye looking.
Here's the sheet of melted crayons cooled off, but still slightly warm to the touch. I used a sharp cookie cutter to make out shapes in the crayon (best when it's still a little warm). Then I let it cool completely.
And here they are: butterfly crayons. I LOVE how all the colors melted together to make beautful mirages of colors. Isn't it pretty? I did two different sizes.
We shot them in a fun and whimsical way. I can't wait to share the calendar with all of you. It'll have to wait until the end of 2009 to see! Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek.
That is really cool! And the idea of using cookie cutters is really clever! Thanks for the idea!
hugs,
Robyn
Posted by: Robyn Haas | August 05, 2008 at 04:43 AM
Love this so much and I will certainly be trying this! Thanks again for the inspiration
Posted by: Cassandra Hendriks | August 05, 2008 at 06:28 AM
That is a fun way to recycle crayons and a rainy day project, woohoo! Love the butterflies! Thanks for sharing!
http://lifeislikechampagne.blogspot.com/
Posted by: happyathome | August 05, 2008 at 07:06 AM
This is a great idea. I wish I had done this when I was younger. Those butterfly crayons would be a great gift for a child.
Posted by: Ellen | August 05, 2008 at 08:23 AM
OMG I am so doing this with my girls. What a quick simple way to reuse all the broken crayons we have around.
Posted by: Amy | August 05, 2008 at 09:09 AM
I'm doing this asap! What fun!
Posted by: MegMeg | August 05, 2008 at 09:11 AM
another easy way to do this is to melt the crayons in silicone baking molds -- after they cool, the crayons are already formed into a shape and they just pop right out!
Posted by: Ramona | August 05, 2008 at 10:18 AM
such a great project. i am babysitting all weekend and we will make this one of our projects! thanks for all the great ideas.
Posted by: nichole | August 05, 2008 at 11:06 AM
oh and i wanted to ask where you got the butterfly cookie cutter...
Posted by: nichole | August 05, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Wonderful idea,Kids would love them all over again.
Be nice for a gift.
hugs ginger
Posted by: ginger | August 05, 2008 at 12:23 PM
You should make those into an art piece!! Put them onto a drawn background of some kind... Or just use the pan of melted crayon (not cut out) and somehow hang it...
Posted by: Lina | August 05, 2008 at 02:04 PM
Wow! I've melted old crayons for projects before, and even for Kaleidoscope crayons, but I never thought of cutting them. What a beautiful butterfly shape! I would even display that as a home decor item!
Posted by: Ruth Gore | August 05, 2008 at 02:35 PM
So fun! I hadn't seen the cookie cutters incorporated before. Earlier this summer I did "crayon cookies" with my goddaughters - same concept but we filled mini muffin tins with the broken crayons. It's a perfect activity to do when the oven has been on for something else (in our case, the pizza we had made for dinner) Next time I'll bring out the cookie cutters!
Posted by: Amy Artisan | August 05, 2008 at 06:57 PM
What a cool idea and I love the butterflies. Awesome!
Posted by: Cindy | August 05, 2008 at 08:09 PM
This is a great idea! We've got tons of broken crayons. I saw another idea before to use muffin tins and liners. They look like colorful peanut butter cups.
Posted by: Andrea | August 05, 2008 at 09:07 PM
The kids are gonna LOVE this!
Fantabulous idea!!
Posted by: lemon verbena | August 06, 2008 at 12:17 AM
The kids are gonna LOVE this!
Fantabulous idea!!
Posted by: lemon verbena | August 06, 2008 at 12:19 AM
Wow. Brilliant idea to use cookie cutters. My kids are going to like this. Thanks for the inspiration.
Posted by: littlebirdiesecrets | August 06, 2008 at 11:34 AM
This is a lovely and easy project! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Amy B. (Early Bird Special) | August 06, 2008 at 12:27 PM
This is so awesome. It would also be cool do just use similar colors (like a variety of reds & pinks) and make crayons that kids use. Especially for the holidays. Especially if there are a lot of kids in the family.
Sooooo coooool.
Posted by: Ann | August 06, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Oh that is awesome.... we have a lot of old crayons that could be transformed!
Posted by: Angela | August 06, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Great way to recycle! The colors are fantastic!
Posted by: charcoaldesigns | August 06, 2008 at 02:48 PM
I've been doing this for years with my kids and now it's time to do it with my grandkids. I remember the fun of dripping the melty colors down the side of candles after a long filling Thanksgiving dinner all around the dessert table. Nice memories.
Posted by: ellen | August 06, 2008 at 03:08 PM
I like your new take on this idea, I always see this done with molds but using cookie cutters is just brilliant.
Posted by: jessica | August 06, 2008 at 04:35 PM
How cool - I can't imagine ever wanting to use one though! How sad would it be to see the butterfly's wing slowly disappear :-(
Posted by: Andy Jaeger | August 06, 2008 at 05:19 PM