Waste Not! Save the Broken Crayons

So I bought my children Handmade Crayon RollUps for Christmas in 2011- and it came with an AWESOME Rainbow Crayon.
Who Doesn't Love A Rainbow Crayon....

Well they actually just discovered it about a week ago (January 2013)
It brought back memories of when I taught Preschool- My first Child was about 3 and of course I bought an Awesome Crayon Maker for all those Peeled Crayon Nubs left in the Communal crayon buckets at the end of the day.
Of Course that one is LONG Gone!  That first child is now 13 and we have added to our family and now have a 5 year old and a 2 year old.
We all went to Wally World and were picking out a Birthday present for a classroom friend and came across the Crayola Crayon Maker on CLEARANCE!
Clearance?  Yes I LOVE CLEARANCE-  it was a Bargain at $10 we all decided.  Would have made a great Birthday Present-  But we voted and decided to take that baby home with us- Along with a $1.97 Box of Crayons.

My 13 Year old, 5 Year old, and 2 year old were off to make crayons!
Gordon skimmed the directions and put a light bulb in- (we only had the one from our scentsy pot at 25 watts so we knew it would take longer than directions that states a 60 watt would be needed.).

Now Let the PEELING Commence!  This was the FUN part-  Fun for all ages-  I even joined in on this part.  This was great for all age levels.  Of course if your a teacher or have a crayon stash in your home there is no need to buy new crayons to peel.

Next time to place the broken pieces in the tray-  I am sure there is a method to get a better swirl but for this one they just piled all different colors in.

There are 2 trays so you can make 2 crayons at one time-

Now Close and Turn the Timer-  The safe feature is great and makes me feel secure having my 2 year old sitting next to the machine.  It Locks till the timer and light go off.  Trust me we learned this the hard way lol.

The waiting game begins......it took 2 turns of the timer because of the low wattage bulb-  but the kids just continued to Peel Crayons while they waited.

Once they are melted and timer and light are off- just use the lever on the side to tilt the trays- the liquid pours directly in the mold-

We left ours in the mold for about 15 minutes then removed.  The crayons were still a bit too soft to immediately color with I may warn you.  We put ours in the freezer for a bit.

In the End we had 3 HAPPY kids- How often does that happen-  ALL THREE HAPPY at once.  They played around their little table with this Crayon maker for about 3 hours-  Yes there was a little pushing and shoving(mainly the 2 year old LOL)... but so much fun.  My husband and I were on the couch behind them and I was feeling so blessed to be home on a Friday night watching my 3 children- Not on a Video Game-  Not on a Cell Phone texting- Not glued to the TV-  They were spending Quality Time together.  The Giggles, Laughs, and Lots of Kisses was well worth the $10 Crayola Crayon Maker no matter what the outcome.
They were not the Rainbow Crayons that they first sought out to make but that did not matter.

Here are some other Videos and Tips on other ways to make New Crayons out of your Old Crayon Stubs.  
Let us know what your experience has been with the Crayola Crayon Maker or other methods-  We would love to see.  If you have a Photo post on our Crafty Moms'R'us Page on facebook!

Crayola Crayon Maker Demo This is a Great YouTube Video showing the Crayola Crayon Maker in Action.

This Method Looks Really Interesting and Uses items that can be found at home-
Find instructions here- How to Make Rainbow Crayons using Pill Bottles

Or try the Old School Method-  Cupcake Pan and Old Crayon Nubs- Old School Method