Pumpkin Crayons "How To"

Here is a "how to" for a little crafty project my 4 year old(Maveric) and I did yesterday. We'll be adding these to the Halloween party goodie bags for his pre-school class.
Here is my beautiful assistant.

A silicone pan that I picked up at Target. These are perfect for this project. They come in different shapes that would all make rockin' crayons. This one cost around ten bucks. You may be able to find them cheaper especially when they put seasonal items on clearance. Once you use it for making crayons I wouldn't use it for anything else.

A bunch of broken, old, sad crayons. Crayola brand works the best. If you go with a crayon that has more wax than color your crayons won't make pretty bright marks. Make sure all the paper is off. Break them into small pieces if they aren't already.

Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees.

I lined a cookie sheet with foil to protect it from any spillage. Placed my silicone pumpkin pan on that. Then filled each one with the broken crayons. Paying attention to a good mix of light to dark crayons. That way you'll get a colorful crayon that will make groovy colors. I filled them about half way.

Slide it all in the oven. Wait, and wait some more. Watch for the crayons to melt. Let them get all liquid-ey. Mine took 20 to 30 minutes.

Here they are fresh out of the oven.

Let them cool completely. I have seen some recommend putting them in the freezer to speed up the cooling process. They tend to cool off to quickly that way and crack. Just set them on the counter and be patient. Also, be careful! I'm sure that wax is pretty darn hot. Tell the kiddies to step back and watch from afar!

Once cooled, gently pop them out of the molds. The great thing about the silicone pan is it's flexible and allows you to push them out from the back side.

Here is the finished product.

A close up of the finished product.

I put them in little clear plastic bags with a ribbon at the top. I'll add these in with all the other cool goodies we picked up for Mav's class. We'll see if the 4 year old set is impressed.

Bad news at the Smilemonster's house. Mav is sick. :( Fear not, all this hard work will not go to waste. I'll be taking these by the pre-school so we can share, even if he can't be there.

Have fun!