Life can be quite colorful. And we can make it even more vibrant by adding crayons, literally in our daily lives. Chopping or shaving up all those crayons and using them for confetti or something, however, are not the way to go. There are other better, more subtle, more fun and yet effective ways of using crayons to add colors in our lives. And that my friend is making candles from extra crayons.
Turning a heat a little on the subject, candle making involves a simple enough process that anyone can do in the comfort of their homes. And using crayons as ingredient does not complicate things. One of the good things of using crayons is that you don’t have to worry about throwing away those stubby crayons that your kids often stopped using simply because they have just become too small. For this project, you will need to collect whatever crayons you can find from your kid’s room, under the couch, in the bookshelves, and even under the refrigerator.
After you gather all the crayons, make sure that you separate the colors. Don’t attempt to combine all the colors together because what will come out is just a big brown one. Aside from the crayons, you will need wax, plastic wax-melting bags, wax melting pitcher or sauce pans, candle molds and wicks. These are not very difficult to find. You can usually get these materials from any craft store.
To begin the process, you will have to use the sauce pans, a double boiler or wax melting pitchers to melt the wax. Over medium heat, allot he water to boil. The wax inside the second pan will melt in ten or fifteen minutes or so. Once melted, you can add chopped little bits of crayons and allow the crayons to melt along with the paraffin. Alternatively, you can use specific kinds of plastic bags to melt the crayons. You then add the melted crayons together with candle wax. A piece of advice, never boil the wax since this will produce bubbles or even worse you could burn it. Use medium heat when you melt the wax so you can avoid such problems. The crayons you mix with the candle wax will give the candle its color. You can combine different crayons to produce a specific color.
Prepare your candle mold. Add the wick before you pour the melted wax into the mold. Make sure that the wick is centered and it stays in place. You can experiment on your candle by pouring a different color on the same mold. Make sure that the layer you first poured into the mold has cooled off and hardened before you place the next color. Once you’re finished with pouring hot wax into the mold, let the candle alone to fully cool down. If you removed the candle from the mold early, it will loose its shape. It should be cool enough to touch with the bear hands. It’s done.
Making candles from extra crayons is a good project to do with your kids. Just a tip, crayons that are labeled as washable kinds are not pretty good to be used for this project. And also, be extra careful when handling hot wax, they can cause serious burn injuries. Always remember safety first. Use the appropriate equipment to handle the wax.
