Wax Job

I've been playing with wax. I know it drives my dad crazy. He sees (and remembers) all the things that can (and sometimes do) go wrong and it sort of freaks him out. For some reason I cant stand to let all those broken crayons go to waste. Theres good color left in them just waiting to be utilized! I loved to lay crayon bits on paper in the sun to get all swirly and melty! (It didn't help the case against my dad when it didnt occur to me to weight these projects down. The wind blew them over and the wax melted into our pourous pool side concrete. oops.) Any way we've got lots of broken crayons at work and once again I found myself saving them. We did the melty wax project at school with the students, but then I found ideas for making crayons around the web. Mine are sort of a mix and match of all of them but I did learn some things:
1.) When baking the wax in a slicone mold (big flowers) it really is important not to get the temp to high. If you turn the heat up to speed up the process, you'll get a clear layer that doesnt color.
2.) If you use mom's special non stick pans for acting as a double boiler, and the can the wax is in tips over, she'll find out what you used them for (even if you think you wiped it all out) when she makes mashed potatoes and the bubbles on top are blue.
3.) Use heavy duty bags to smash the crayons in, because "Dad" (substitute roomate, husband, sister) doesnt like it when there are tiny wax bits on the floor that stick to feet.

Happy crayon making! Its a lot of fun!