How to use up old crayons

A few weeks ago, I noticed what a crazy abundance of old, broken crayons we have. Since I buy at least a few packs of new crayons every year when the back to school sales are on, we have plenty of nice crayons and I decided that we needed to re purpose the old ones.

First, you set your kids down with a tub of old crayons and get them to peel off all the paper. If your kids are anything like mine, they will be ecstatic about the possibility of defacing the crayons for about 4.3 minutes. Thereafter they will abandon the project and make their mother peel 463 crayons bits...approximately ;P

After you call the kids back in and fortify them with snacks, have them sort the crayons into like colors. Place the crayons in a muffin tin you've lined with cupcake holders for easy clean up. Don't forget to throw in a few wild cards...'cause that's how you roll. Live a little.

Also, if you suffer from OCD, or are just completely nuts, make the kids put the crayons in order of the rainbow. Sing it with me, "Red, Orange, Yellow. Green, Blue Purple!"

Place in a 250 degree oven for 5-15 minutes, watching carefully, until the crayons have melted. Make sure they don't get too hot and start smoking!

Straight out of the oven!

Let the crayons sit and solidify for a few hours.
Then peel off the paper liners.

Enjoy the crazy color mash ups you've made!

They are great for stacking and doing rubbings as well as just plain old coloring! Enjoy!