DIY Crafts: How to Make DIY Crayons

DIY Crayons

Hey, everybody! Recently my niece had her 4th birthday, and when I asked my sister what I should get for her she said, “Coloring books and stationary.” So…I was kind of baffled by this. But apparently my niece loves coloring and writing letters. I thought just a plain coloring book and some paper would be such a boring gift, so I decided to make her some pretty DIY crayons.

Make DIY crayons

So the first step to make your own crayons is to find a silicon mold to melt your wax in. Believe me when I say, an ice cube tray will not work!

DIY crayon mold - ice cube tray

Yep! I tried to use this ice cube tray because I thought it would make such cute little star crayons. So, I started by chopping up some crayons and putting them in one of the molds. I then microwaved the mold one minute at a time. After about 7 minutes of microwaving and little to no melting at all, I thought “Okay, the mold hasn’t melted in the microwave. I’m just going to put it in the oven.” And… that was the wrong thing to do. As you can see above, ice cube trays + the oven = no bueno. Craft fail level: 10. “Nailed it!”

Alright, so luckily, I also had these silicone heart cupcake molds. They were a lot bigger than the stars, but I figured a four year old needs bigger crayons any way, right? Technically I believe the silicone molds are for cupcakes or muffins, but they’re definitely oven safe (just make sure to wash them thoroughly after you make your DIY crayons).

If you want to get really fancy, there are some pretty nice silicone molds for cake decorating and/or candy making that you could definitely use for your DIY crayons. I even found these cute little bride & groom silicone molds. How cute would it be to make DIY bride and groom crayons using your wedding colors, and then hand them out with coloring books as wedding favors??!!

So, I peeled all the crayons and broke them up and put them with their respective color family in the silicone molds. I used all Crayola crayons because I’ve heard they are a higher-quality wax. But I’m sure you could use a wide array of different types of crayons.

how to make DIY crayons

Depending on the size of the mold that you’re using, you will want to adjust the number of crayons that you use. I used about 7 or 8 chopped up crayons per cupcake mold, and the final DIY crayons turned out fairly large.

I put all of the silicone molds on a cookie tray and put them in the oven at a low heat – about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. They should melt pretty quickly, so just keep an eye on the oven to make sure you don’t get any drippage off the sides.

how to make DIY crayons

Once the wax is all melted, you have to let the DIY crayons set. I waited over night before I removed my DIY crayons from their molds. You could probably stick them in the freezer for an hour and you would be fine.

Also, if you wanted to use an ice cube tray as I attempted to do above, you could probably pre-melt the crayons (how to melt crayons) and just let them cool a little before you pour the melted crayons into the ice tray.

Make your own DIY crayons

One thing I noticed if you want to make your own DIY crayons: the smaller the pieces of crayon, the more “swirly” they will be. So this is a really great activity to keep your kids occupied for a little while. They could use a pencil sharpener to get smaller shavings of crayons, or simply use their tiny little hands to break up the crayons into smaller pieces.

DIY crayons

Unfortunately, I didn’t actually get to see my niece open her present (I included some coloring books along with the heart crayons, of course), but I heard that the verdict was “they are too ‘britty’ to use.” Haha, so I guess that’s not a bad thing.

Have you ever made your own DIY crayons? What brand of crayons did you use to make them (or maybe a mixture)?




13 Comments on DIY Crafts: How to Make DIY Crayons

  1. Kelly O
    at (9 years ago)

    Good instructions. I totally would have tried the ice cube tray. I love that I can use up all the crayon stubs that I have.

    Reply
  2. Diana Ware-Page
    at (9 years ago)

    Loved to make melted crayon art !! We did it all through elementary school as an end of year gift for the kids to take home, believe me there are a lot of broken crayons that need to be re-purposed into something pretty, fun and useful for the kids to take home over the summet. Add a 10-12 sheet printed pages to color on (usually teacher copying mistakes on the other side, so no waste) and the kids are super happy with their gifts !!

    Reply
  3. Kristin K
    at (9 years ago)

    This is such a cute idea! My nephew has a ton of broken crayons, and I’ve been wanting to buy him some crayons that are more heavy duty! I mean thicker crayons that don’t brake the first time you use them! Now, I just have to find a mold like this!!!

    Reply
  4. Emily
    at (9 years ago)

    I have done this with the lego man ice cube tray ( http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Minifigure-Ice-Cube-Tray/dp/B007MJB8F8)! You just have to check the max temperature to be safe. You have to put it on a lower heat and keep it in longer but depending on the materials made for the tray, its doable. Also cutting the crayon into smaller pieces will help it melt faster. I have also done this with a silicon baking mold in star shapes. One more note, once you use a silicon mold for crayons you can’t really use it again for baking!

    Reply
  5. krystel
    at (9 years ago)

    this sounds like so much i remember when i was younger and i was able to make crayons in my elementary art class it was a really fun experience for me

    Reply
  6. Mai T.
    at (9 years ago)

    No I’ve never made my own crayons but this looks so lovely!

    Reply
  7. denise low
    at (9 years ago)

    GREAT ideas. Never thought to make crayons this way. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  8. Tricia Hope
    at (9 years ago)

    What a great idea to make for little ones early on their journey to manual dexterity.Genious!

    Reply
  9. jenyl
    at (9 years ago)

    my son will love this, he loves colors

    Reply
  10. Deborah Caudill
    at (9 years ago)

    Thanks for sharing your ideas and workable instructions on how to make your own heart shaped crayons. I am keeping DIY instructions in a notebook with photos for the day when I finally have a grandchild and she/he is old enough to do these types of things.

    Reply
  11. gimm
    at (9 years ago)

    This is so beautiful.. I like they melt and make new items. beautiful colors 🙂

    Reply

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