Recycled Crayons Tutorial

I love making recycled crayons! They a great way to use up those little broken crayon nubs that no one wants to color with. Recycled crayons are perfect for making texture rubbing art and are fun eco-friendly party favors. They would also make lovely homegrown activity for the "kid's table" at your next family function. Just cover the table in butcher paper and put one of these at each place setting!

How to make recycled melty crayons:

1. Peel the paper off of old broken crayons (this is a great kid project). We collect these broken bits in a bag as we find them. When we have a nice selection, we get cooking!

2. Find a mold. I use a star shaped silicon cupcake pan. This makes is easy to remove the crayons and gives them a fun shape! You can also use a normal cupcake pan carefully lined with tin foil. (If you are not lining your pan you need to dedicate it to crayon making, as it will be very hard to get clean enough to use for cooking again!)

3. Fill your molds. You may wan to group colors together (different shades of green, pink and purple, or primary colors). You can also fill at random for crazy combination. I like to over-fill my molds a bit as the crayons will meld down as they bake.

4. Bake your crayons at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until they are completely melted. (Enjoy the unique and strangely pleasant smell of crayons baking.)

5. Let them cool completely.

6.  De-mold your crayons. If using a soft pan, you can carefully pop them out. If using a tin foil liner, peel off the foil.

 

Check out your local thrift store for great deals on fun mold shapes! Personally, I'm partial to the star. You can get several colors by rubbing it flat, or you can get more precise by just using one of the points.

Collection Gallery Inspiration

Here is another "Collection Gallery", a pleasing arrangement of small items that make a big impact. This one is unified by frame color (black, collected from vintage and discount stores) and content (botanical drawings). (Yes, it's probably hung a little too high over the sofa, buts that's a project for another day!)

      

I've always loved Victorian style scientific and botanical drawings. However, they can be monsterously expensive! I found this delightful book on Ebay  for about $10 plus shipping and used my favorite pages to fill the frames. 

      

Cost of Project: $79.00 (I paid more for the frames and book for this collection gallery)

Time Needed: 2 hours (plus shopping for frames and content)

***Side note: Yes, I too love my blue vintage sofa! I looked for years to find one that was in my price range and didn't require reupholstering as all of those tucks and tufts make it too difficult for a do-it-yourselfer. The secret? Keep trolling Craigslist and take care of your Karma!***

Hallway Gallery

     Owr new house has a very unsightly breaker box in the hall that I've been meaning to disguise for some time. Of course, decorating an entire hall on a budget can be difficult. My favorite solution? The local thrift store! I purchased several mismatched frames in brown wood. (I even got most of them on clearance! Check with your thrift store. Most do deals for certain colored tags every day.)You can mix sizes and textures, but you want to have something unifying, like the color, to keep the display from being too busy. I already have a botanical drawing display in black frames above our couch, which I'm quite pleased with.
     When you're looking for frames, you can go for empty ones or nice frames with questionable "art" inside that can be easily replaced. Don't forget to check the hanging mechanism of the frame to a make sure it's sturdy. Table top frames can be hung with the addition of picture wire. If your frame has a hanging mechanism and a table top stand, you may need to remove the stand for it to sit flush against the wall. You can usually pull the stand off with a pair of pliers.
     Next, fill your frames. Look for unusual (and inexpensive) items that you find beautiful. I used some family snapshots, laser cut paper keys (usually used for scrapbooking or collage), and some pages of beautiful script from an old German book. I further united the collection by keeping the color scheme in neutrals and green.
     Next, determine your layout. Do this on the floor before you start putting holes in the wall! You want to make sure that your display is balanced in size, color, and contents. Now, you're ready to hang and enjoy!

    

     
     So, what happened to that unsightly breaker box? It's hidden behind the four-paneled key picture. Voila!


Total cost of Project: $16.95
Time needed: 2 hours (plus frame shopping)