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Make: DIY Melted Crayon Art
Have tons of old broken crayons that nobody wants to use anymore? You can upcycle those old art supplies into melted crayon art! Like our torn paper landscapes or rainbow road abstract art, this kids’ art project is fairly simple, easily customizable, and honestly quite striking!
To make your own melted crayon art you’ll need:
BASIC SUPPLIES:
- Crayons
- A Canvas, watercolor paper or cardstock
- An Iron or hairdryer
- A Pencil sharpener
- Wax paper
- Cardboard or old newspaper to catch splatters
NOTE: Though it’s unlikely, warm or hot wax CAN splatter, so make sure to protect the surrounding areas, and wear long sleeves just in case
DIY Melted Crayon Art Instructions:
- Select the colors you’d like to use
Pick out a color palette from your crayons. We used the whole rainbow!
- Make shavings from your crayons
Use a pencil sharpener or similar to create piles of colorful crayon shavings
- Layout your design on a canvas, watercolor paper or heavy cardstock
Lay your canvas on a flat surface with cardboard or newspaper underneath to catch any loose wax bits. Layout your crayon shavings in the desired composition on your canvas. You can create fun patterns and shapes or simply sprinkle them!
- Cover with wax paper
Cover with design with wax paper. If you’re using an iron to melt the crayons, this keeps the wax bits from sticking to the iron, and if you’re using a hairdryer, tape down the edges – this will ensure all the shavings stay where they’re supposed to and don’t fly off the canvas.
- Use an iron or hair dryer to melt the wax
Use your iron or hairdryer to melt the wax. Experiment with the settings to see which works the best for what you want.
- Let dry for 15-20 minutes before touching
Keep little hands away from your melted crayon art finished product for at least 15-20 minutes to ensure the wax has completely cooled and hardened.
There’s endless room for creativity and self-expression, and a super fun activity for kids!
Love this and want to try a few variations? Here are some simple ideas that will give this crayon art a whole different look…
- Melt your crayons on a black or colored piece of heavy cardstock instead of white for a whole different look!
- Collage other images underneath/over top of your melted crayons.
- Create a rain or water effect by limiting your colors to shades of blue only.
- Melt some green crayons, then flip your canvas upside down to make blades of grass that you can mod podge paper or dried flowers on to.
MORE Repurposed Crayon Activities
A quick trip around the web confirms I’m not the only one with baskets of broken crayons! This small collection of recycled crayon activities is guaranteed to help you diminish that old crayon supply while keeping your little ones entertained…
- Modern Melted Crayon Wall Hanging from Oh Creative Day – This gorgeous wall art from my friend Shannon doubles as a super fun for kids AND a great lesson in symmetry (and her video tutorial is SO good!)
- Melted Crayon Butterflies from barley & birch – Inspired by Shannon’s wall art, we made a set of melted crayon butterflies we later put on garden stakes and used in potted plants.
- Rainbow Crayons – A Crayon Melting Point Experiment from From Engineer to Stay at Home Mom – I love the clever idea of reusing crayons for a science experiment, finishing up with a beautiful set of rainbow crayons in the end!
- DIY Earth Day Crayons from Emma Owl – I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Earth Day with kids than putting recycling into practice.
- Melted Crayon Watermelon Suncatchers from Crafts by Amanda – For a fun summery project, give these bright and cheery watermelon suncatchers a try!
- Melted Crayon Rock Art from Mombrite – This fun process combines natural and recycled materials for a phenomenal project.
- Wax Paper & Melted Crayon Lanterns from Artsy Fartsy Mama – Use simple supplies to make your own luminous lantern!
- DIY Fun-Shaped Crayons from The Art Kit – This detailed tutorial takes you through all the best basics of at-home crayon-making (and how we adore these colorful butterfly beauties!)
Grabbing supplies from the recycling bin or finding old projects to remake anew with kiddos is one of my very favorite past-times. For more upcycled art-making with kids visit our scrap stamp shape collage project, turn a peanut butter jar into a colorful (and functional!) kid-safe lantern, or use up old cardboard boxes to build a city neighborhood full of drawing prompts!