Melting Crayons

Last week I did a little craft project. I melted down Toddler's broken crayons into new, unbroken shapes.

This is what they looked like before:

They were actually even worse because in this picture I'd already taken out all of the smallest, most broken pieces.

I then chopped them up even more so they would fit in the silicone mold better:

I then put them in the silicone mold I got from the dollar store (which was from Halloween and was a mold of pumpkin shapes. Toddler saw it and said "Balloons!" though, so they're balloons. Which is better than pumpkins.) and put it in the oven at 275 degrees for about ten minutes:

Took them out, swirled the colors with a toothpick, and let them cool on the stove top. Once they'd cooled for about 25 minutes, I put them in the fridge to cool them even faster. (If they cool too fast in the beginning they might crack.) Then I popped them out. And we have balloon crayons!

All of Toddler's crayons filled three batches of the silicone mold. I don't know if it was just cause it was a cheapy silicone mold from the dollar store, or if it was something about the crayons, but after I was finished it was kind of twisted and warped and I just tossed it. But it totally worked for this craft! A dollar well spent.

Toddler really likes her new balloon crayons. She played with them for like an hour on the day that I did this.