How To Easily Melt and Make Crayons In Silicone Molds
Do you have a bunch of unused crayons at your home? This is one of the coolest crafts to help you recycle & reuse those crayons. Melt your old crayons into new colorful and fun-shaped crayons using silicone molds in less than 15 minutes!
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These DIY crayons are perfect for treat bags, Valentine’s party favors and gifts. The best part is you can make any shaped crayons you want for only the price of the molds.
📌 Featured Comment
“Very easy to follow, the tip to get the paper off was really helpful”
Beth
Recommended Supplies
- Water cup with warm water
- Oven
- Oven mitt
- Cookie sheet (optional to cover it with aluminum foil)
- Silicone molds (these ones are similar to what we used)
- Old Crayons
Where can you buy silicone molds?
We were so lucky when walking through the clearance section at our local craft store after Valentine’s Day. We were able to score these heart molds for less than a dollar each. My only regret was I did not buy more.
📌 Pro Tip
Baking molds like ours always go on sale once the holiday is over and you can find them in so many fun shapes.
Other molds to consider buying
- Amazon: Letter molds for personalized letter crayon gifts
- Michael’s: Holiday molds or even these fun flower molds
- Etsy: Awesome truck silicone molds
How To Easily Peel Crayons
Seriously I wish I had known this sooner from other crayon art and craft projects we have done.
Soak the crayons in warm water for about 10-15 minutes. Some of the papers will honestly just fall off. You can even twist your hands over the paper to easily get some of the more stubborn crayon papers to come off.
The water technique is the best way to get the paper wrapper off. But you can also take an Exacto knife and cut the paper off. However, that is not really the family-friendly way to get it done.
Instead, get the whole family involved by helping to peel and break crayons. This is such a fun way to help little ones build hand strength.
Different Melting Times
Note that the smaller the pieces you break, the faster the crayons will melt. We actually liked having little larger pieces. We think that it gave our silicone mold crayons a little more of a tie-dye effect instead of just all melting to make new solid colors.
What if you don’t want to peel the paper wrappers off the crayons?
Please don’t put the paper in the oven. However, you can purchase unwrapped crayons if you are in a pinch for your own DIY crayons.
Tips For Color Mixing
Without even realizing it our children were discussing the primary colors, similar colors and color theory trying to guess how their new crayons may come out. It truly is so much fun and doesn’t cost much to do.
We did attempt a rainbow crayon, but the darker colors seemed to overtake the brighter ones. Colors that are similar or next to each other the color wheel seemed to work better than too many different colors.
We also loved it when the white crayon melted in. The best part about this fun idea is that you can just experiment with colors and see what happens!
What crayons are best to use?
It is odd enough that our past experiences confirmed that Crayola crayons are the most vibrant and easiest to melt. Some of the other brands of crayons actually take a little bit longer.
We know this from doing different melt crayon canvas projects with a hair dryer. Any brand of crayon will work to create fun new crayons in different shapes and sizes using molds and your oven.
How To Melt Crayons In Silicone Molds
Step 1: Take The Wrapper Off
Peel the crayon wrapper off of the crayons. Soaking in water for 10 minutes can really help with the process.
Step 2: Preheat Oven
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 3: Fill Molds
Place broken crayon pieces in molds. Overfill the molds (especially if they are smaller hearts). The crayons melt to fill every empty space.
Step 4: Place In The Oven
Put silicone mold on a cookie sheet before putting it in the oven.
Step 5: Cook For 8-12 Minutes Until Fully Melted
For the small molds, cook for 8-12 minutes. Make sure to watch for when they are fully melted. You do not want to overcook them.
Step 6: Pull Out Of Oven & Let Cool
Once you see that the crayons have fully melted, pull them out of the oven immediately. The wax will be very hot and liquid. How long your newly formed crayons need to cool will depend on the size of your molds.
If one crayon isn’t melting easily, you can take it out of the oven and stir with a toothpick. The hot wax will help melt that stubborn piece.
After 20 Minutes
In the image below, you can see that the melted wax has solidified and was cool to the touch after about 20 minutes.
Step 7: Remove Them From The Mold
Once one is completely cool to the touch, you can carefully push it out of the heart mold.
Adult Supervision Needed
Warning! My kids were very excited to see the crayons.
Even with me standing right there they were tempted to touch the pan or melted wax. It all looks very cool, but make sure you don’t let anyone touch the hot surfaces and hot wax.
Be careful when handling the baking sheet and crayon molds. Also, don’t leave them unattended because you never know who might get curious.
Notes On Melting Times
- Our large molds took about 12 minutes at 300 F and took about 30 minutes before I was comfortable pulling the crayons out of the molds.
- Make sure that your new crayons are fully cooled. Do not rush this part. You don’t want to break your awesome creations.
We also tried to melt the crayons at 200 degrees F, but it just was taking too long. We found the sweet spot at 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Remember just like with baking all things can vary, so just keep a close eye on your melted crayon wax as it is happening.
Factors That May Change Your Melting Time
- The size you cut or broke your crayons. Small pieces will not take nearly as long to melt as larger pieces.
- Your molds are different sizes.
- Your oven runs differently than mine (sorry not really a baker to tell you why)
- The brand of crayons or even colors used. In past crayon projects, we have found that certain colors have a higher melting point than other colors.
Don’t have silicone molds?
- If you don’t have silicone molds you could try melting crayons in old mini muffin tins or using old metal cookie cutters.
- Consider making new crayons in cupcake liners. We give you the complete tutorial in the link.
Crayon Making FAQs
Yes, you most certainly can. Silicone molds come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and designs and are a great way to recycle old crayons into brand new creative ones in your oven.
Even the youngest children can help make decisions about the colors they are using in this fun project. Our oldest was able to even understand that red and green might not work out too well because they are opposite on the color wheel.
Yes, make sure that you are purchasing silicone molds that say oven-safe. Our molds said they were oven-safe, freezer-safe safe and heat-resistant up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some of the cheaper molds you may find are only ice cube trays and are not labeled as oven-safe.
We do know you could use a heat gun, microwave, or even a blow dryer to melt crayons. However, the oven really is the easiest way.
Note we got our silicone molds on sale at Michael’s after Valentine’s Day. They sell different silicone molds depending on the season.
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Related Crafts
- DIY Christmas Tree Crayons: Follow a very similar tutorial to make fun stocking stuffers below!
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- Homemade Oobleck Recipe Without Cornstarch: Just another boredom buster that kids love!
My family honestly couldn’t believe how awesome our homemade melted crayons looked once we could peel them out of the heart molds!
If you like this easy tutorial, be sure to give us 5 stars below 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 and have fun being creative with your family.
How To Melt Crayons In Your Oven Using Silicone Molds
Equipment
- Oven
- Cookie Sheet
- Cup of warm water
Materials
- Old crayons
- Silicone Molds these are similar to the ones we used
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place peeled and broken crayon pieces in molds. Overfill the molds (especially if they are smaller hearts). The crayons melt to fill every empty space.
- Put silicone mold on a cookie sheet before putting it in the oven.
- Place in oven and cook for 8-12 minutes. Time may vary.
- Once you see that the crayons have fully melted, pull them out of the oven immediately.
- The wax will be very hot and liquid. How long your newly formed crayons need to cool will depend on the size of your molds.
- Once one is completely cool to the touch, you can carefully push them out of the silicone mold.
Video
Notes
- Adult supervision is required! Don’t leave young children unattended with hot wax.
- Pull out crayons as soon as you see the wax fully melted.
- The hot wax will take around 20-30 minutes to harden and cool.
- Cook time will vary depending on the size of your broken pieces and your oven settings.
- If there is one stubborn crayon with the melted wax, you can use a toothpick to stir the wax in the mold.
How do you clean any leftover crayon residue when you are finished? Thank you!
Hi Nicole. We only use our silicone molds for crayons so we just reuse them. However, I would think you could chip off the dried wax and wash with really hot water to get them clean again.
Do your crayons work the same as they did before you remade them into heart shape crayons? I feel like I’ve done this before and the crayons just didn’t work the same. They were crayolas. Have you ever experienced this?
Hi Chelsey. I think due to the shape sometimes the crayons work differently. The curved edge of the hearts makes them a little harder to use, but our kids love seeing the rainbow colors that they get.
This was a fun activity to do. Thanks
Hi Shanah. I am glad you had fun making your own homemade crayons!
Very easy to follow, the tip to get the paper off was really helpful!
Hi Beth! Yes, soaking the crayons is a must!!!!! I am glad your crayon-making was a success.
Have you had trouble getting the crayons out of the molds? Do the molds get stained?
I’ve done this before in metal tins but I love the idea of using fun shapes.
Hi Kathleen. The molds actually are pretty easy to get the crayons out of. There is definitely a little wax left on the mold, but you could easily get them clean. I only buy mine on sale and use them to make new crayons, so I don’t worry about getting them completely clean. Good luck with your crayon making!
We don’t have an oven at school. Do you think this could work in a microwave?
Honestly, I don’t know 100% if silicone molds can go in a microwave. You would also probably have to worry about splatter in the microwave and that could make a mess. I would love to hear if you figure this out, but I personally haven’t tried in the microwave.