Handmade Crayons + a Giveaway!

Paizlee's birthday is on Sunday. We are having a family dinner with just us this Sunday and will have a bigger family party next weekend when CAROLYN IS HERE. (Sorry, just getting a little excited) Breuklyn and Maddux wanted to get Paizlee a special gift and of course wanted it to be a project. "Can we do a project, mom?" is a common phrase around here. I can't imagine why. :)


Back in October my friend Patrizzia made alphabet crayons and I searched everywhere for pans and was unable to find them. Then in February I was blog-hopping and found this post over at Elle's Studio where she also made these alphabet crayons. She used silicon pans from Sillycone which I quickly ordered and then stalked my mail-lady.


I think that these will make the perfect gift for Paizlee for her birthday along with the added bonus that Breuklyn and Maddux made them especially for her.

One of the reasons that I loved this project was that I got to get rid of the 10 million crayons that we have been accumulating. Do you have as many crayons as we do? When the crayons went on clearance in September, I bought boxes and boxes because I knew that we would need them eventually.

I remember not wanting to use my crayons once they were no longer sharp. I'm a crayon snob. There. I said it. When the crayons lose their nice sharp points, I pull out a new box. Thus, 10 million crayons.
Step 1: Peel the crayons. Save your fingernails (+ your sanity!) and use a utility knife to slice through the paper. Then hand the crayon off to the uber-eager children to peel off. Also, this would be a good time to preheat your oven to 275 degrees.

Step 2: Sort the crayons by color. This is great for kids to do. I tried to explain my ROY G BIV rainbow order, but they just looked at me blankly. Plus, where does the pink go in the ROY G BOV order? With the reds?

Step 3: Break crayons into 4 pieces. I had them break each crayon in half, and then I broke the halves in half again. Nothing makes a 3-year-old boy happier than being told to break something in half.
Step 4: Lightly spray the silicon pans or molds with cooking spray. This makes it a cinch to pop them out later. We also decided to use silicon heart-shaped cupcake liners. You can use whatever you have. Some green shamrocks would be cute!

Step 5: Mix those colors!

We only used the letters that we needed to spell out, "Happy Birthday Paizlee." The kids loved mixing all of the colors together.

Step 6: Bake these for 10 minutes (or until melted) at 275 degrees. Don't leave them in the oven too long or else the colors will all melt together. You want to be able to see the individual colors.

(I would recommend using a cookie sheet just in case there is a tragic wax incident. My oven is already near the end of it's life, so I wasn't going to tempt fate by throwing a bunch of hot wax in there unsupervised.)


Step 7: Once the wax has melted, carefully remove your cookie sheet. Don't jostle the pan because you don't want the colors to mix too much.

Now here's the hard part. Step 8: Let them cool completely before you remove them! I lost three letters because I have the patience of a 2-year-old. Just leave them alone so that they can cool completely. Once they are cool, they will pop right out. They will, I swear.

Do you want to make crayons of your very own? I bet that you do!

Just leave me a comment here and I will choose one person to win this alphabet silicon set from Sillycone! According to their website: You can make anything from Ice, Jell-O, Butter, Chocolate, Sidewalk Chalk, Crayons, Soap, Candles, Rice Crispy Treats and so much more!

Right now I am making orange juice ice cubes for a fun drink at dinner. I love these trays! You have until Monday, March 16th to leave a comment! Good luck! :)