melt and sprinkle

It's kinder holidays and my desk is pretty much the same as it was last week. Also, I'm quite tired and am having problems stringing a sentence together. So this is what Audrey & I have been doing this week while Henry sleeps.

Making crayons. There's different instructions for this all over the internet. We just broke up some old crayons into a non stick muffin tray, baked them at 125 C for about 10 minutes. They set in the pan and I put them in the freezer to firm properly. They had a very pleasing sheen as well as pretty rainbow colours. Fun!

Audrey's been asking to do this one for ages. I think she saw it on Playschool. We mixed some sand with food colouring and sprinkled it onto glue to colour some of her drawings. Less fun for me (argh! food colouring everywhere!) But the sand was quite attractive.

One last thing, I'm really (really) behind on replying to emails. I'm so sorry if you haven't heard from me. There's a long weekend coming up and I'm hoping to get back on track then.

Comments

[Rachel L]

Those crayons look so pretty, that would be such fun to make as a gift!

[Maria in Iowa]

If you have a hot sunny day, just put your muffin tin out on the sidewalk and they'll melt just fine. You can also use paper or styro coffee cups and peel the cup away once the melt has solidified.

[Hyena In Petticoats]

Those crayons look good enough to eat!

xxx

[BigCat]

That photo of the crayons pieces in the muffin tin prior to melting is so lovely and colourful. I don't think I could have brought myself to melt them.

[Lisa]

My kids used to love sand art - a good outside activity! Love those crayons - the colours are amazing.

[Hege]

Love the crayons!
And the colored sand is a great idea. Have to try that some day ;)

[cindy]

This was always so much fun to do with my kids. Yours turned out great, love the colors!

[Jo]

what fun and bright colours... last time we made those crayons the base crayon was too soft, so they are still really messy on little hands. I should try again with harder crayons, yours look like they worked beautifully ;)

[familyvalue]

Thank you so much for posting about these crayons! I set out to do just this approx a year ago and didn't get past the sorting of colours! Off to give it a try!

[Kate]

If you would like to do the sand art again, you can color it with chalk which is a lot less of a mess for the adult. the colors may not be as bright, but it's still fun to play with. Just place sand in a bowl and rub the chalk in. I haven't experimented to much but if the sand is a little damp, it may help with the chalk dust.

[Kirsty]

Just a wonderfully colourful & gorgeous kinder holiday day. Lovely.

[evitangel]

they look so yummy! great pics!

[PlanningQueen]

What beautiful creations. We have experimented with the sand before as well, which was fun and messy. The kids have made coloured rice. We place rice in a dry plastic bottle add some food colouring put the lid on and shake. Pour the rice out on to baking paper to dry. We make a few colours then put them into a small plastic bottle, to make a colourful shaker.

[Allison]

What a great use for older crayons that noone wants to play with anymore.

And I would also have food coloring 'issues' but I guess fun always wins:)

Hope you get some time to yourself soon.

[Janice]

I have 10 years worth of crayons lurking around my house, I can't wait to try this out and yes, maybe use them as gifts, possibly makes for school fairs etc. Brilliant! Thanks.

[Michelle Powell, Kutnkudlys Kreations]

Great idea and how fun for the kids!

Have a great day!

P.S. I have a secret on my blog, check it out!

[chelsea]

I did this when I was a little kid. We used foil muffin liners in the tins and then we had a pretty crimped edging on the new crayons. I also remember us doing them in a heart shape.

[dottycookie]

In a mildly freaky coincidence, we have just done both those activities too. Well, for us it was pearl barley rather than sand, but the idea's the same!

[meg]

I just made the crayons as well, but I forgot them in the oven (is something burning?!). I think the wax separated out and they don't work any more. Oh well. Maybe I'll try the sand instead. I have fond memories of making colored sugar and shaking it in a bag with a donut right out of the fryer.

[h&b]

Gawd, I just deleted 400 emails ( although I do get my comments fwd'd to my inbox ) because I just can't keep up, and then feel guilty. Some bloggers are SO GOOD !

I plan to reply to all emails from now on between each and every blog-post. Hopefully that rule will keep me on top !

Love the sand idea !

[geekfreeks]

Both very cool ideas!!!

[sara berry]

My mother used to do those crayons for me and my siblings...she used the aluminum liners (without the paper cup part) and the edges would look like reese's cups. Your post brought back lots of memories!

[sara berry]

My mother used to do those crayons for me and my siblings...she used the aluminum liners (without the paper cup part) and the edges would look like reese's cups. Your post brought back lots of memories!

[Rebecca]

Lovely crayons - I like how they are chunky - must be good to hold and draw with :D

[Gail]

Too funny! There must be wax fumes in the air, Gina and I just did this too while Adler slept! I love mixed crayons!