Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Childhood craft

I gather craft ideas from lots of different places.

Both Jill AND a blog I read, Some Twittery, gave me an idea to recreate a childhood craft. Jill & Adam made some awesome recycled crayons over the summer. I also read on Some Twittery about making those melted crayon & wax paper pieces of window art!

So yesterday as Jill was getting her crayons ready for listing on Etsy, she told me I could have the shavings from her crayons.


Today's first experiment with the melting in wax paper didn't go so hot. I'm sure that when I made these when I was little, a parent or an adult actually made them. If I can get the hang of this, I'd like to make some themed shaped to hang from my classroom ceiling or to sell on Etsy for others.

Here is the mess I made in my kitchen with my first try. See how it didn't work???


Anyone have tips for me or want to join in on the crafting fun?

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5 comments:

Beth said...

I'm sort of lost...what are you going to do with these shavings again?

Whatever it is, I can't wait to see the results!!

Anonymous said...

I thought you said you never cooked?!?

What if you brainstormed about different ways to color Easter eggs and substitutes crayon shavings for the dye tablets in vinegar water?

I just Googled "craft ideas + 'crayon shavings'" and have 638 hits. I'm sure you can get lots of good (and bad) inspiration.

Be careful about giving away your secret process ... Hallmark - which owns Crayola - will steal your idea.

Good luck with your experiment.

BTW, you can register www.color-full-ideas.com or www.colorfulideas.org

chitknit said...

Should you just randomly melt them and then cut out the shapes? Might be easier that way.

Bets said...

Beth, look at the link that is the "melted crayon & wax paper" words before my first picture. See if that helps to jog your memory!

Jilly, that's what I was trying. I could get the crayons to melt correctly, and when they did, it turned into a brown mush. I think I should try it with color coordinated crayon scraps!

RachelC said...

I have this vague memory of making the "stained glass" with crayons and wax paper. I was too young to handle the iron, but I loved the smell of melted crayons. So much so, that I continued to melt crayons on the radiator at school, but that's another story.

Perhaps you had too many crayons in there. The examples on the other site look a little more sparse.