The day before our big Christmas party I came up with a new idea. I would make them all crayons! I had seen the idea online and it didn't look all that difficult. I got a few containers of old crayons and started peeling them. Evidently crayons are MUCH harder to peel than the crayons I grew up with. There was no way I could get enough crayons peeled by myself while they were napping...so instead I broke a few child labor laws getting the kids to peel crayons for me instead of nap. They were all highly compliant because let's face it - what kid wouldn't rather peel crayons than nap!
As they gave them to me, I cut them up into small pieces with some old scissors. I got enough to make a huge container full by the end of nap time. Way to go kids! :-) After school I ran to Kmart and bought some gingerbread silicon molds.
And here comes the easy part. All you have to do is fill the molds with the crayons. I had enough to go all the way to the top, but as they melt down they get a lot smaller so it worked out well and they turned out perfectly thick. I decided to put the molds on a cookie sheet with a little water on the bottom to make sure the molds didn't get messed up. Not sure if that's step's necessary, but it worked out for me!
Put the oven on 225 and melt the crayons for about 15 minutes. After they come out of the oven let them cool for 15- 20 minutes. When they feel cool to the touch, you can start popping them out of the molds. I was surprised by how easily they came out of the molds - and how awesome they turned out! They even came out with facial features which I wasn't expecting.
The kids (and a few family members I gave them to) absolutely loved them. I guess next time I could do them in color families, but it was hard enough getting the kids to help me peel the crayons. I doubt they would have been excited to sort them by color after peeling them. Eh, maybe next time I'll bribe them with some cupcakes or something!
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