I have been wanting to try this for ages, finally I saved up enough crayons from restaurants, and goody bags . This took a while , it was a true nap time creation from the time my son fell asleep until I heard “Mama I’m up” almost 3 hours later. So block off some time without little hands before starting this project.
- Gather your materials. You will need many crayons of various colors, something to melt the crayons in ( I use aluminum cup liners in a ratty old cake pan- the wax does leak through sometimes) , some popsicle sticks for stirring, a recycled jar and a candle wick.
- Start by setting your oven to 220-265 I am impatient and melt them at 265 but many people have said that that is too hot and they had smoking, so my suggestion is to start low and adjust accordingly.
- Peel the paper off the crayons and break into small pieces. I used 7-10 crayons of each color for my candle.
- Melt.
- Put the wick in the jar and hold onto it as you pour the melted crayon into the jar.
If I had had a longer wick I would have wrapped it around a popsicle stick and laid the stick across the jar to keep it in place.
- Let the wax set before adding the next color.
- This is what happened when I didn’t wait long enough.
- Keep adding and letting the color set.
- Trim the wick when all colors are added and set.
Update – I lit the candle and it burned well for about 15 minutes, after that the flame got tiny tiny . The smell was fine, although I admit to liking the smell of crayola! Overall I would do this as a pretty decoration, exploration about melting and color mixing and not to make a candle to use in emergencies !
EntertainingMom says
Allie… that is brilliant!
Does the candle smell like Crayola? Not that that is a bad smell… love the smell of new crayons!
I am working on a list of things to do with glass jars and I would love to link you!
LORI says
Is essential oils ok to add fragrance
Allison McDonald says
I don’t know and with anything you are lighting I would be nervous to be wrong. I still have mine and use it for decoration – it’s never burned well.
jane says
My friend makes these all the time, and she melts actual wax for candles and mixes the crayons in. You can get the wax at stores hobby lobby and they turn out really cute!
Allison McDonald says
I think that’s the way to go – this was an experiment more than anything and it’s cute but it’s not really functional.
Kara says
Oh that is SO cool!! I’ve melted crayons to make coloring discs, but this is much prettier!
The Real Me! says
Neat idea but I’m not to thrilled about the crayon smell. LOL. Now a playdough smelling candle that would be cool! LOL.
Thanks for sharing.
Kim
Letters,Numbers and Books says
its pretty!
Oh i playdoh smelling candle would be so cool!
I'm just the MOM says
VERY cool idea! I will have to try this!
Jen says
Love, love, love this! I’ll start saving my crayons. You’ve probably have done this, but melting crayons in a mold to make a rainbow crayon is fun, too. We made heart crayons last year.
Jen
Creative and Curious Kids!
http://raisingcreativeandcuriouskids.blogspot.com
theworldismysoyster says
Do crayons really “burn” well?
Have you tried it out yet?
I’d love to know if it is worth the effort.
You can see my fun crayon craft that I did with all those leftover crayons you tend to accumulate here:
http://www.unschoolingrocks.wordpress.com
Amy@Let's Explore says
Fun and pretty! 🙂
Allie says
I love playdough smell too !
I haven’t burned it yet, I want to give it a full day to really set. I am going to try it later today, and I will update.
Lettie says
What a fun idea. And so smart about using the foil liners. I made chunky crayons from broken ones the other day. I didn’t even think to line the pan and now it is no good for cooking. Thankfully it wasn’t too great to start with.
I love reading all of your wonderful ideas everyday and am so impressed that you actively do them so often. 🙂
beauty school drop out says
its a great idea but crayons don’t melt as candle super well. You get uneven melting that and the wick size is off for the size of candle.
They are great to add to candle wax for color.
plus you get that crayola smell.
Allie says
Smells not bad at all, it burned well for the first 15 or so minutes but now it’s a tiny blue flame, it’s still going…. but barely.
So in conclusion, cute decoration but don’t depend on it in a power outage 😉
Amanda @ www.kiddio.org says
How fun! Goodness knows that we have enough slightly-used kids’ meal crayons lying around! I wonder if it would burn better if you mixed in a bit of paraffin?
xo, amanda @ http://www.kiddio.org
MoodyMommy says
I have left you someover at my blog!!!
diane says
How fun and creative! I’ve got soooo many extra, broken crayons. I’m definitely going to try this one. Thanks 🙂
Anonymous says
First of all you are so blessed…your kiddo naps for 3 hours. Wow! I have two girls, K’Lee 2 years old and Ellie 7 month…I might get 2 hours (on a good day). I just want to thank you for all these wonderful ideas! I just became a stay at home mom (was an engineer)to have more time with them.
Allie says
I am blessed .
However, he is also the worlds worst night time sleeper, so when he naps well I am extra blessed!
Glad I can help – it’s for that exact reason I do what I do 🙂
Loukia says
What a neat project, I love it! First time visiting your blog. I’m a mom of 2 little boys living in Ottawa. 🙂 Great blog! 🙂
Amy @ Literacy Launchpad says
LOVE IT! What a great activity for Earth Day coming up. And I have a ton of old crayons that I need to do something with… perfect!
MaryAnne says
I was wondering how well that candle would burn… it does look very pretty! I wonder what would happen if you mixed in an essential oil with the melted wax…
Allie says
If I did this again , and wanted it to burn well… I would use mostly parafin and mix in the crayons for color , and add in some scent!
LORI says
I know this is 5 years later, but if you see this thanks I was wondering about these things
Tara @ Feels like home says
I love it! Thanks for sharing such a cool recycled craft. 🙂
Boardwalk@ Recycle Christmas Cards says
It seems obvious now, but I would never have thought of these as a way to recycle crayons. My immediate concern would have been the fumes that the melted crayon might release. but I guess you’re still alive, right?
.-= Boardwalk@ Recycle Christmas Cards´s last blog ..Recycle Greeting Cards for Arts and Crafts =-.
Brenda says
Definitly a great way to recycle old Crayons LOL. You can always ad some essential oils to make it smell nice.
Jessica @FoundtheMarbles says
What a terrific idea! I’m going to try that with my boys. I think they’ll love it!
Sara says
Wow, this is a great idea. I will have to include it in my next party.
vapidness says
When I used to make a lot of candles I always used crayons instead of commercial dye discs to colour the wax. You melt crayon in with the plain candle wax to colour it. The crayons go further, it makes better (and safer) candles, and I’m guessing it’ll smell better too. Have fun!
admin says
Thanks! This was really one of those ” Hmm I wonder if it will work?” Years later we still display the candle but never ever use it.
Jess says
Take an emergency candle and add it to the crayon when melting, it will make the crayon colour go father and should help the burning process!! Love the idea
Jen says
Just stumbled across this, great idea. We’ve got so many left over crayons and this is great thing to use them for. My kids will love making this.
Grandee says
How about using an actual candle rather than a wick? Secure it and pour the crayon wax layers just as you mentioned. When you light it you will be burning the candle and not the crayon wax. Would still look the same. Just a thought.
admin says
Smart!
Cindy deRosier says
I’m the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your candle! You can see it here:
http://funfamilycrafts.com/crayon-candle/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, we’d love it if you would submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!
Kristine says
Have you tried to add some candle scents to change tot smell. and maybe a little beeswax to help with the burning out fast problem?
Allison McDonald says
I think that would be great!
Krystal says
Fantastic idea!
Gigi says
Brilliant! After reading comments left, I’ve decided to (in the absence of wicks) use actual candles – the container being wider than the candle, melting the crayons and pouring them all around the actual candle. And probably adding a little oil for fragrance. The only available fragrance I have right now is vanilla extract – i think that will do:)
amy says
I did a crayon candle but in the melting process I add the scent wax. I also tried the glitter crayon. Very neat to watch..like bubbling lava
Alexandru says
i like it!!