This has been something I have been meaning to try for sometime. I think it’s a great way to reuse or sharpen your crayons. I find that having the sharper crayons around the house makes for some inspired drawing. Even though we don’t have a ton of crayons they just seem to show up between restaurants, birthday parties and so on. No matter how good you take care of the crayons there are always broken ones.
To begin you will need the following:
- wax paper double the size of your desired project
- crayons
- sharpener
- knife, scissors, or other blade to make shavings
- iron
- paper, or a rag towel to protect your work while ironing
Once you have your sheet of wax paper fold it in half and focus on placing shavings on one side. Choose your placement thoughtfully. These will melt. When things melt together, they can end up being muddy.
I went for a color wheel kind of look.
The younger folks went for a confetti surprise arrangement.
When you feel good about how you want to arrange your wax, you are ready to go to the melting phase of the project. Fold the edges up about an inch or so on the other three sides. Place a blank piece of paper under the wax paper to protect your ironing surface, then place a rag towel or kraft paper over the wax work. Heat up your iron on medium heat and gently go over the whole work. Check in now and again to make sure it is melted enough, but not overly melted where it looks watery. Think of melting grated cheese here. You want it to loose form, but not separate and become totally runny.
The melted crayon smell gave me flashbacks to my childhood. I had left some crayons in my parent’s car in the door pocket and they melted. This was one of my earlier lessons in “This is why we can’t have nice things!” talks. Although they removed them, the smell lingered on for the life of the car. Whenever I was in the back seat on a warm day, that smell resurrected!
Once the work is ironed and cooled you can gently draw what kind of shape(s) you want to have. Then cut out the work and hang up to enjoy!
| I’m Brigid and I am passionate about art, craft, design, DIY, practicing an eco-friendly lifestyle and education. I’m a mother of two young kiddos whom inspire me to make the world a better place everyday. You can see what I am up to at her blog and follow her on twitter or pinterest. |
