Re-making crayons

I have a toddler who *loves* to draw/color. He has a whole bin of crayons that have come from different places and people, I threw them all together rather than keeping separate crayon boxes, etc. I also keep him coloring books and stencils in the bin, too. It works great.

Of course with little hands (and, I should admit, my hands) doing so much drawing, crayons break. Even the thicker ones that are meant for toddlers. Noah will still use the little pieces to color with but they were driving me crazy.

Today I decided to try melting them down and re-making crayons. I pulled out a foil muffin tins and a silicone icecube tray, and that was really all I needed to do this.

Step 1 - Peel off the paper and put crayon pieces in the tins, in a cupcake pan. I preheat the oven to around 400 degrees (C) and then put these in the oven just like this. I checked on them every few minutes and I stirred them around with a tooth pick a few times. After about 8-9 minutes, they were full melted so I pulled them out.

Before going in the oven

After I took them out of the oven

Step 2 - Let cool, but only a few minutes, until you can pick the muffin tins up. If you let them cool too long they will start to set. Then pour into mold (any shape or size works!)

I only made enough to do these four, because I wanted to see how it turned out before a ton of them. 

Step 3 - Put the mold into the freezer for 10-15 minutes, or until completely set. Took about 15 minutes for me. 

Step 4 - Pop the new crayons out of the mold!

They have a bit of "frost" on them in this picture, but as soon as they warmed up a bit and Noah started using them, it went away.

I was a bit unsure of how these would actual work, but they draw really well! I ended up with a redish/pink and a brown, but that's cause I just put random colors together in the muffin tins to melt. 

Here is the crayons and how they actually worked on paper.

And finally, Noah actually coloring with them. He loves how easy he can grip them and scribble, too!

It seems like Fridays are the only day I get a chance to sit down and write. It makes sense, as it's the only day I don't have extra kids here during the day. I wasted most of Noah's nap already - played on my phone, wasted time on Pinterest (though I did find a good sweet potato burger recipe for tonight) and did the dishes. Now, I sit here and can't believe I still have a few minutes to post here. He's still asleep, so I will write until he wakes.

Every day that passes brings us closer and closer to spring. I know this, but why does it feel like winter will never end? It's snowing *again* today. I'm sick of my winter boots that are no longer waterproof. I'm annoyed with pushing the stroller (and double stroller, some days) through so much snow. Boo. I am so ready for February to be over, that is for sure. Only one more week. March will be better, right?

This face tends to make everything okay. He got this take-apart toy for Christmas and suddenly *loves* it. He knows how to make the drill go and he can take out the screws himself. Once it's all apart, he calls for me to put it back together. And I do, and he takes it apart again. And, repeat.

He has so many new words and phrases all of a sudden. He loves saying "yeaaah!" and "Oh no!". He also puts words together now, like "Ruby, no!" and "Mama, draw?" and "Dadda, please!" He can sing the Batman song (Na Na Na Na Batman!) but he thinks all superheroes are Batman. Ha. He still loves kitties, dog-dogs and owls (who who) and he can show you *all* of his body parts and make almost every animal noise/sound. He amazes us so much.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us, thanks to Noah having a bad cold last weekend, so we got nothing done. We have a family dinner, tons of errands, groceries and a friends' baby shower. I'm exhausted just thinking about all the running around.

Flashback Friday

A quick post as I'm on my way out the door - Flashback Friday, since I haven't done one in a few weeks.

My boy, February 15th last year, and today!