Make :: Crayon Cupcakes

We have amassed hundreds of crayons over the years and they all cohabit in a large tear drop shaped jar with a snug lid.  Some were gifted, some were purchased and some are almost eight years old and quite brittle.  G rarely colors with crayons anymore, as he's more interested in fancy pencils, sharpies, graphite utensils, paint and duct tape (more on that later).

When I stumbled upon a short tutorial on Pinterest (my newest addiction...go on, try it, you'll probably like it, too), I knew I would definitely have to give it a go and do a little Sunday project with the boy.  He decided these would be given to his classmates right before the xmas break.

It was super easy and fun.  Although I did learn a thing or two in the process.  We ended up making three dozen and had to trash the first batch because I was too impatient and tried to take them out of the pan too early.  Lesson learned.

1.  Remove paper from crayons.
2.  Break or cut into 1/2" pieces.
3.  Place liners in a muffin tin (or use a silicone muffin tin - which I would definitely use next time, as some wax leaked down the side and ended up in the bottom of the pan).
4.  Place your chopped crayons in the liners and fill up to the top.
5.  Bake at 235 degrees for approximately 20 minutes (or until melted).
6.  Cool for 20 minutes (do not remove liners w/ wax until completely cool or liner will most likely rip - or at least mine did!).

I would definitely refrain from using dark colors next time (purple, brown, black and the like), as they dominated the finished product.

Once the new crayon cupcakes are formed and solid, you can remove the liner paper.  I'm going to leave the papers on and slip into a cellophane sleeve or envelope for gifting.  It's kind of fun to unwrap the liner on the crayon cupcake and see the pattern on the bottom.

It's sort of like a tie-dyed crayon.

It was a really simple, virtually free and such a wonderfully colorful project.  Plus, we liked the end result.  I hope his classmates will, too.

UPDATE:  Found this little tutorial after I published this post.  I would definitely try to make solid colored or two-toned crayons next time.  Nicer finished product and the fact that she added glitter?  Genius.