The Frenzied SLPs -- Introduction

I am thrilled to be part of The Frenzied SLPs!  I hope you are enjoying the posts you have seen so far.  

My  New Year's resolution this year is to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Between my kids and my various jobs, I'm finding it hard to keep organized and clutter-free.  My kids are also learning about recycling and reusing, so I decided they could pitch in and help.

We went away in December, so I had to clean out my car, a massive undertaking, since I am seeing 9 students in their homes over the course of a week.  I had several different bags and tons of games in the back of my car, in addition to whatever my kids brought in that never seemed to find it's way back into the house.  I debated showing you a picture of the corner of my living room, but I figured I would spare you the horror!

As I was sorting through my materials, I found my boxes of broken crayons and empty glue sticks.  Instead of throwing them away, I decided to reuse them and make new crayons.  It's actually pretty easy, I have made them before using silicone molds which I couldn't find (organizational tips anyone ;-) ), so I used mini muffin cups and empty glue stick containers.  

I hope you will enjoy this tip and find it useful.  

DIY CRAYONS!  

First you will need your supplies:



Old crayons
Dixie cups
silicone molds, empty glue sticks, 
or mini muffin pans or cups
microwaveable container with about 2 cups of water

NOTE: I used the microwave because I could not find my silicone muffin pans.  You can find directions on how to melt crayons in the oven here.  



Next, sort and peel your crayons.

I forgot to take a picture of the crayons in the microwave.  Place the cups of crayons in the microwave  You can mix colors to make swirled crayons, but only mix dark colors with dark colors, and light with light.  It takes 4-5 minutes to melt dark ones, but the lighter ones can take up to 10 minutes.  

I added a microwaveable measuring cup with 2 cups of water to the microwave, along with the cup of crayons.  You need to stir the crayons every couple of minutes, they are similar to chocolate chips, where they retain their shape (mostly) until you stir them.  The picture on the left shows the orange melted crayon about to be poured into the empty glue stick.  The second picture shows more being poured into muffin cups.  You need to work quickly, as they harden very quickly.

Finished product!  Twistable crayons and fun shaped ones too!

I hope you enjoyed this tip.  How will you find alternate uses for common household items that are cluttering up your house?

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