mold for melting crayons

[llwr]

I really need to get rid of the tiny bits of crayon around the house. I'd love to melt them down, but I can't figure out what to put them in. All I can come up with is muffin tins, but I don't want to ruin mine. Any ideas?

[bec28]

Some metal cookie cutters of fun shapes?

[rhiOrion]

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf666289.tip.html

[zebra15]

Originally Posted by llwr

I really need to get rid of the tiny bits of crayon around the house. I'd love to melt them down, but I can't figure out what to put them in. All I can come up with is muffin tins, but I don't want to ruin mine. Any ideas?

muffin tins are fine if you use the paper liners first.

[LaughingHyena]

I tried cookie cutters with foil scrunched round the bottom but they were not a great success. A lot of wax leaked out of the bottom so the crayons were not a great shape.

The last lot I made I used little paper cases and they came out OK.

[HisNdHerMommy]

I used a muffin pan and it didn't ruin it at all...honest. Just make sure you throughly wash it afterwards. It's so much fun and the kid's love them...Good luck!!!

[EricaDoula]

When I was younger we did this with all our crayons! We put them into cupcake papers in muffin/cupcake pans, then the papers come off after they bake and the crayons are colorful and lots of fun!

[LaLaLaLa]

We did a craft a couple of years ago where we melted crayons in muffin tins and then when they were still soft, cut them with a cookie cutter into heart and star shapes. We didn't ruin the muffin tin at all; when we popped the new crayon blob out, it stuck to itself, rather than to the tin.

[luv-my-boys]

I use muffin liners in mine first. It keeps the pan clean and the liners come off easily plus the edges have a nice scalloped design on them.

[Think of Winter]

I use a heart-shaped silicon ice cube tray from Ikea. Oil it first so they slide out. I think a silicon candy mold would be great, too.

[haleyelianasmom]

Originally Posted by Think of Winter

I use a heart-shaped silicon ice cube tray from Ikea. Oil it first so they slide out. I think a silicon candy mold would be great, too.

ooh that sounds like a good one. my daughter has been asking to do this. She got a heart-shaped crayaon from a woman who runs the library storytime and she said she used a silicone try

[tbone_kneegrabber]

yeah I use the triangle silcone ice cube trays from IKEA.

[rhiOrion]

you can get silicone trays in a ton of different shapes for cheap on amazon. i use them for truffles

[luv-my-boys]

Originally Posted by Think of Winter

I use a heart-shaped silicon ice cube tray from Ikea. Oil it first so they slide out. I think a silicon candy mold would be great, too.

ohh that sounds like fun. I actually noticed today that my DS' preschool has a mix match box of bits of crayons that really the kids dont wnat to use. Im going to ask to repurpose them for the class Im sure heart and star shaped crayons would go over much better.

[jrabbit]

I got some candy-molds from Michaels - we haven't tried them out yet, but it seems like they'd work??

[kcparker]

Maybe it's just because I live in Iowa, but this seems like it would make for a fun shape.

[Mearow]

Originally Posted by kcparker

Maybe it's just because I live in Iowa, but this seems like it would make for a fun shape.

I would worry about melting wax in a cast iron pan, would it affect the seasoning? Or get into the pores of the cast iron thus affecting any food you cooked in it later. I have a nice ABC cast iron pan I'd love to use but am not being able to make cookies in it after a batch of crayons. Anyone know more?

I have seen the corn stalk molds in glass, tho, so that would be a fun option. I think they made glass ones during WWII when iron was in short supply.

[HappyMommy2]

When we did this the crayons that we created were not any good for coloring! I think I left them in the oven too long, maybe...? The color sank to the bottom, and even though the wax on top looked colored, it didn't really look colored on paper.

If I do it again, I will definitely try to take them out just as soon as they are slightly melty.

[Mearow]

I made a batch yesterday using an ABC plastic tray that I think was for Jello. I didn't mind if it got ruined because we never have Jello. Good thing, because I must have had it in the microwave too long and one of the letter forms melted and burst. Wax dripped onto the microwave plate but it was easy to wash off, as long as I got it quick before it dried too hard.

One thing I'll do next time, after getting a metal pan to use in the oven, is to leave out the blacks, browns, and the darker reds. I think the crayons would be brighter and prettier without all the dark colors. Maybe I just had an abundance of broken dark colors.