End of the Year Flamingo Crayon Gift!

I'm one of those people that can walk around the Dollar Store and see something I know can be used for a fun craft! I mean I'm just that mom... which has it's ups and downs. You know what I mean if you're one of "those" moms too!

So this weekend I got away from the family and went to the 99 Cent Only store and found they had this cute Flamingo ice cube silicon tray. I thought it would be perfect for little flamingo crayons to give away to my daughters Kindergarten classmates for the end of the year. You see just last week they went on a Field Trip to the San Diego Zoo where of course we saw Flamingos!

Having kids you know how many crayons can accumulate in your house. So I went through out container and picked out all the white, pinks, peachy, and reddish colors that I have seen in Flamingos.

So here is a quick little tutorial on how to make these or any type of crayon easily using a silicone mold! The best part is you can use any silicone mold to make these! So the options and occasions are endless! I've used these to make Lego themed crayons for a Goody Bag and Dino themed.... you get what I mean!
(I've included links to where I purchased my supplies if available.)

Ingredients:

• Silicone Mold (Here's the Lego One I used on Amazon)
• Crayons
• Oven or Microwave
• Avery Printable Business Cards (Here on Amazon) Or any card
• Dual Adhesive Foam Mounting (Here) or any type of double sided adhesive

Instructions:

1. First you will want to cut off and peel the wrappers from the crayons. I found using an X-Acto knife was really easy to slice the paper and then peel it off. 
   
2. Then you will cut the crayons down into smaller pieces. This is how you will get the marble look.
3. place the pieces in the molds of the silicone tray and fill it to the top. 
   
   
   
   
   
4. I place the tray on a cookie sheet and put in the oven between 250 - 300 degrees. Now here it will take maybe 5-10 minutes depending on how warm the oven is when you place them in. They are done when all the crayon pieces are melted down. (Try not to over heat as it can leave a milky waxing coating and burn the crayons) You can also put the mold into your microwave and in 45-60 second bursts melt down the crayons. I just found the oven to be a quicker way to do this. 
   
5. Take out of the oven to let cool. To cool more quickly place them in the freezer or refrigerator. 
6. Once hardened you can just "pop" them out of the mold in order to use again! 
7. I used Avery.com to print on their easy business cards, but you can use any type of Word like program and card stock to print your message on. 
   
8. Use the foam squares or your double adhesive to attach the crayons to your card. Foam mounting does work best because your crayons may have a bit of an indent in the back. 
   

The possibilities are truly endless! I have also placed the crayons in an old soup can in a pot of water on the stove top to create a double boiler and melted a single color down to pour into the molds. Although this way is a bit more labor intensive and definitely messy but does create a beautiful crayon.

Because I bought the mold at the Dollar Store I did have one mold actually melt through. This is why I highly recommend using a cookie sheet or  a paper plate if using a microwave to contain the mess if a hole was to be made. I've never had this happen but not all molds are created equally!