I’ve been reading about making old crayons new and the cute valentines you can make with them. I finally picked up a heart shaped candy mold at JoAnn’s and knew I was close to actually melting crayons.  I followed the molded crayon tutorial at Homemade by Jill.  I’m super excited about how easy and fast this craft was.  I have a few notes to add.

1. Use a sharp knife to cut through the length of the crayon wrapper.
   A commenter on the above post suggested this.  Do it! Do not wait until you’ve ripped the quick from under your nail trying to scrape the paper away from all the crayons.
2. Keep the wax hot.
   I wasn’t pouring fast enough to fill the whole candy sheet before the wax started cooling.  Half way through I put my wax back in the water to heat it up again.  If you don’t keep the wax hot your crayons won’t be smooth and pretty.
3. It’s Hot!
   Use a good hot pad or glove.
4. Don’t worry about filling the molds completely to the top.
5. If you go from light colors to dark, you really only need one, maybe 2 cans.
6. When pouring, use your stirrer as a guide; like in chem lab.
7. Let the crayons cool a bit, until they are not shiny, before you stick them in the freezer to speed cool them.  I did this so I wouldn’t slosh hot crayon wax everywhere.

With the small heart mold I was using, the crayons were done fast.  After I stuck them in the freezer, it was less than 5 minutes.  By the time I was done unwrapping a few more crayons and melting them, I pulled the tray out of the freezer and the crayons fell out of the mold.  Then I was ready for the next batch.  My four year old didn’t loose interest until the 3rd batch.  He had fun breaking the crayons and was excited to tell his dad what he’d been up to. They make me so happy to look at.

My plan is to make square cards with an earth outline on one side and the words “you color my world.”  On the other some “happy valentine’s day from your friend.”  Or maybe I’ll incorporate Secret Agent Josephine’s B&W valentines. Combine that with tying them in tulle and I hope everyone will understand that they are born again crayons and not candy.