We were emailed a Pinstrosity that I remember wanting to do as a kid. One of my classmates brought their awesome multicolored crayon cube in for show and tell and all the rest of us 2nd graders were green with envy. I don't know if I just never brought it up to my mom, or if she said no or why I never tried this. Anyway, here's the cool crayon "cube" that was sent in to us:
The Original Pin:
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| http://www.chefmessy.com/2009/02/happy-valentines-for-crayon-out-loud.html
Aren't those cute?! Our Pinner saw this project and ran to the dollar store to pick up the supplies. All seemed to have gone well until she pulled the crayon circles out of the pan. |
The Pinstrosity
She discovered that "the bottom of the crayons were beautiful like pictures, but the tops of the crayons were this uniform blended color. When broken, the beautiful bottom was just a thin layer. A thin layer of lies. I was so disappointed that I was the only person on the planet who couldn't even melt crayons right."
What I love about our Pinner is that she didn't stop here with this Pinstrosity, she decided to experiment and try again.
"Not to be deterred, I ran out and bought Crayola crayons and silicone baking cups. I repeated the process, only this time they came out great. Not sure what went wrong the first time, may have been a fluke. One positive thing to come out of the second batch was that I spilled something on the crayons. After rinsing, I discovered that wet crayon wrappers are very easy to remove from the crayons."
Here's her 2nd attempt:
hmmm...I wonder if it had something to do with the 'brand' of crayon (crayola vs the dollar store)?? And if the silicone pans work better than a regular muffin pan???!!
ReplyDeleteCrayola DEFINITELY makes a difference. (I've tried both.) It also helps to keep the pieces fairly large so the colors don't mix that much. I used a regular metal pan for mine (heart shaped cookie pan) and they came out well.
ReplyDeletemine failed using crayola and silicone - I looked at a few different ones because my temp on the oven wouldn't go as low as the first one I read said - maybe it was too warm?
ReplyDeleteI did this with a mixture of crayon types and a silicone pan, and all but one came out great; the one weirdo came out with that bland backside . . . I don't know what happened to that one!
ReplyDeleteTried this just a few weeks ago. I used a metal muffin tin in an oven roasting bag and set it out in the sun for a few hours. Great solar energy project!
ReplyDeleteI received these as a gift once and it seemed like they broke really easily. I guess I'm picky though.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they didn't use Crayola. Because the ones we made (actually, the experimental ones with the crappy crayons before we realized we needed Crayola) they were strong! Maybe they over cooked the crayons or cooked them on too hot a heat.
DeleteDollar store and off brand crayons containg lots of wax and very little pigment. Crayola's make a big difference. I've done this project many times over the years with my own kids, and now the grandkids and have always had success (using Crayola's).
ReplyDeleteI did these and had so much fun! They came out looking great, and now I just want to make more! I made them for my son's school for Valentine's Day. Used Crayola and the silicone heart molds.
ReplyDeleteI did this project and it turned out pretty good with one small exception. Used Crayola and used silicone hearts, however, do not use Washable crayons. The color comes off on your hands anytime you touch them. Will def do again with regular crayola crayons.
ReplyDeleteI have done this pin before and it turned out great! The temp. of the oven does matter. If it gets too hot the colors run together. As soon as they melt take them out, and try not to shake the pan a lot.
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I used to make these all the time when we were kids. Only we'd accidentally leave our crayons in the cupholders in our van. . . and we lived in a very hot desert. . . and our parents were never very happy about it. Lol!
ReplyDeleteWe did this for Valentine's day. We, too, went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of crayons. Um, yeah, not good results. The back side had a funky clearish film on them and wouldn't color well. So, I succumbed to buying Crayola. Voila! Works like a charm!! Oh, and USE silicon molds.
ReplyDeleteRight now, with Back-to-School sales, buy tons of Crayola now! :)
I did this with a blend of crayon brands and it worked. The only problem is it's awkward to color with a round crayon so my kids don't want to use them. Waste of time.
ReplyDeleteI did this using star-shaped silicone molds, which gives you five points to color with. They're a decent shape for my little ones.
ReplyDeleteMy tips:
1) No more than 3-4 breaks per crayon
2) Co-ordinate your colors so that if it all goes pear-shaped and they run together, you haven't got a total loss. Not to mention a nice set of coordinated greens (for instance) actually colors pretty nicely!
3) This is from the Crayola website:
"Crayola Crayons begin to soften at around 105 degrees Fahrenheit and they have a melting point between 128-147 degrees Fahrenheit."
In other words, set your oven as low as it will go, then crack open the door a bit.
4) Be very patient, but don't walk away at the end. In order to avoid the "clearish film on top" as mentioned by several others, you need to take 'em out before they are fully liquefied and the wax starts separating from the pigment and floating to the top.
I don't recall exactly how long it took, but it was a minimum of 20 mn. Check every 2-3 mn at the end. I chose to leave the backside of the crayon a little lumpy rather than risk separation.
I made these for my son's 4th grade class last year and then made a batch for the teachers. They turned out great - used Crayola and silicone heart mold (blue one from Wilton. I color coordinated them so they would look cool when melted together! I can see what may have gone wrong with the circle ones in the picture above -- the special effects ones like the gel efx ones the black rose to the top of the well and those two were the only ones that stained my silicone mold! Mine turned out great and everyone loved them!
ReplyDeleteI tried this in a silicone ice cube tray in my toaster oven, and it set itself in fire! I'm pretty sure it was too close to the heating element, but it was a pretty dramatic pinstrosity.
ReplyDelete