DIY Heart-Shaped Rainbow Crayons

Melanie Baron,

Editor's Note: This was updated Feb. 1, 2018.

If there's a holiday made for crafting, Valentine's Day is it. You'd have to celebrate what my daughter calls I-Love-You Day every day for a lifetime to try just a fraction of the ideas that turn up in a quick search on Pinterest.

We've made felt hearts, endless hand-print projects, had an open-ended, glitter-filled Valentine-palooza, and every year we bake something for friends and neighbors. This year, I wanted to find something else we could do in the kitchen. Heart-shaped rainbow crayons are this year's recipe.

What you need:

  • Old or broken crayons (new crayons would work too, but why not recycle the old ones?)
  • A mold – preferably a silicon, heart-shaped mold.

Step 1

The first step is to peel the wrappers from the crayons. The easiest way to do this is to wet the crayons. Wet paper dissolves and releases adhesive, so if you soak the old crayons in a bowl of water for an hour or so, many of the crayons will unwrap themselves.

Step 2

Next, break the peeled crayons. Some say chop them into tiny pieces or even flakes, others just break them into chunks. Any size will work. We snapped each crayon into about four or five pieces with our hands.

Step 3

Fill each cup in your mold with crayon pieces, and put it in the oven at a low heat – about 300 degrees or lower – until the crayons melt but do not bubble.  If using a silicon mold, be sure to place it on top of a baking sheet before you put it in the oven. Removing a floppy mold filled with hot, liquid crayon will make a colorful mess in the bottom of your oven that just isn't conducive to a happy Valentine's day.

Step 4

Remove the heart-shaped crayon creations before the colors mix. In our oven, this took about 20 minutes but this probably varies a lot based on the type and quantity of crayons you are using and your oven. Once they're melted, remove the tray and let them cool.

Step 5

Wrap them, up, tie them with a bow, and give them to your favorite crafty sweetie.

A few tips:

  • Some of our crayons happened to be glitter crayons, which gives the hearts a little sparkle. You can also add some super-fine glitter to the broken crayon mix and get the same result.
  • You could sort the colors, or make themed crayons around sports teams, school colors, seasons, whatever. I'd like to make an orange and purple one and call it peanut butter and jelly!
  • You can mix and match crayon brands. They all melt eventually.

 

Looking for more crafty mess? Visit the author's Etsy store, Made by Mommy!

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