Skip to Content

Recycle Oil Pastels & Crayons

Posted on Last updated: /


Hey there! Do you have a bunch of broken oil pastels or crayons lying around? Don’t toss them just yet. You can totally give them a second life. How about we melt those little color bits down and reshape them into something super cool? Pick a shape that tickles your fancy, and let’s mix up those colors for a funky twist. It’s like a mini art project with a side of recycling. Let’s get crafting!

 Turn broken pastels and crayons into cool shapes! Melt, mold, and mix colors for a fun, eco-friendly craft. Let's get creative!

My kids love to doodle with oil pastels and crayons. Though they are not a gifted artist, I love all the scribbles and drawings they have created. Looking at them fighting over the same piece of oil pastel gave me the idea to make some multicolored star-shaped pastels, so they can just pick a star and doodle with many colors. Please read further for the tutorial on how to recycle crayons or recycle oil pastels into multicolored star-shaped pastels.

star oil pastel

As I cut and fill the pastels into the mold, it creates lots of waste debris on my table, which is very small and can hardly be picked up by hand. So, I collect them and pour them into one of the molds. Surprisingly, it turns into stardust with all the colors I have used. One glide at the tip will give stripes of colors, my daughter shouted out: “Mommy, it is like a rainbow! So beautiful!”

Star Dust Oil Pastel

Kids will be kids, and they just like to fight over the same thing. When I made the star recycle oil pastels, I kept in mind that 2 stars must be at least close to identical in color and shape. Even with all my hard work trying to duplicate the twin-star pastel, they still fight. Sigh. “Mom, I want that piece she is using, it has more red in it”, “Mom, not fair, my star is smaller…”, “Mom, sister used my star…”, “Mom…..” …… What can I say? I just love my kids the way they are. Sometimes, they even make me steaming mad with all the mess and fights around. If you have kids like mine, welcome to my MOTHERHOOD….

5-in-1 color oil pastel

Get the tutorial on how to recycle oil pastels to make the Colorful Star Pastel after this.

Click the link if you would like to do more recycle crafts or upcycle crafts.

recycle crayons

Recycle Oil Pastels Or Crayons Into Colorful Stars

Materials & Tools:
1. Broken Oil Pastels or Crayons [Non-Toxic]
2. Star TPE or Silicon Rubber Ice Mold
3. Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline) or mineral oil or butter
4. Cotton Swab (Q-tips)
5. Craft Knife
6. Tweezers
7. Oven

Note: 100% oil pastel is soft and fragile, so the star might break during the process of pushing it out from the mold.

A 70%/30% mixture of oil pastel and crayon produces a stronger bond. The success rate is higher with a mixture of crayons. The higher the percentage of crayon, the higher the success rate in remolding.
When Crayon melts, the color pigments will set to the bottom while the wax float to the top. The color pigment at the bottom resembles the texture of oil pastel.

recycle oil pastels

Get ready all the materials and tools. I stole my son’s oil pastels and crayons where he has stripped them to naked, that’s why you can see that they are all coated with all sorts of colors.

 
recycle oil pastels

Wipe a thin layer of petroleum jelly on the star mold with a cotton swab. Pay particular attention to all the tips of the star.
You can skip this step if using 100% crayons, but no harm lubricate the mold since it will make the stars come out easily.

 
recycle oil pastels

Cut and chop the oil pastels and crayons into smaller pieces.
Place bigger chunks of crayons into the mold first, especially the tips of the star. Fill the gaps with smaller pieces and remaining debris.
It can be one color for each tip or a random mix.

 
recycle oil pastels

To get the shades of tones for your star pastel, you can premix some color shades before putting them into the mold.

 
recycle oil pastels

Press the oil pastels and crayons down and fill the mold slightly higher.

 
recycle oil pastels

Place the mold into a cold oven and heat it up to 100°C / 212°F for 10 minutes.
Keep an eye on the oil pastels and crayons while they are melting. You will be surprised at how fast they start to melt.
Don’t increase the heat to melt the oil pastel faster; it is dangerous, as you might cause toxic fumes to release.

 
recycle oil pastels

The oil pastels and crayons start to melt and sunken into the mold to fill all the gaps in between.
You can add some pastels to fill in for the height.

 
remold oil pastel to star shaped

After they are fully melted, they form a shiny molten.
A layer of transparent wax will float to the top if crayons were added into it.
Keep the mold in the oven with the door open for about 10 minutes to let the bubbles released from the molten. Poke bubbles when they surface to the top.

 
recycle oil pastels

Let them harden by either transfer the warm mold into the freezer or leave it at room temperature to set for about 2 hours or overnight. A 100% oil pastels harden quite fast.
Gently separate the sides of the star by pulling the mold away. Push the star out from the mold.

 
recycle oil pastels

Some of the perfect star-shaped recycle crayons oil pastels successfully molded.

 
recycle oil pastels

Sometimes it is not easy to remold a 100% oil pastels, it is soft and fragile, breakage can happen especially on the thin tip of the star.

 
recycle oil pastels

But if some crayons (at least 30%) are added to the oil pastels, it will improve the success rate in no time.
The wax will float to the top (the thin opaque layer) that enhances the bond, while the color pigment sinks to the bottom.

 

Enjoy doodling and scribbling with the star-shaped recycled oil pastels!

drawing with star shaped recycle oil pastel
recycle oil pastels crayons

Follow Craft Passion's Network:

Paula

Friday 25th of May 2018

If you mix crayon brands, could be reason for wax at top of mould. Other companies use varying amounts of pigment to wax ratio. Thats why some crayons dont cut the mustard. I always take time to sepatate crayons by brand. I only remelt Crayola brand.

Renske

Thursday 9th of February 2017

Thanks for this tutorial! Just made these for my toddler and they are really adorable. Just had a question, I made these with crayons only and ended up with a really thick layer of transparent wax on top (about 50% of the finished shape). Do you know if that is normal since I didn't use the oil pastels or did I do something wrong? Or could it have something to do with the quality of the crayons I used? Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Craft Passion

Thursday 9th of February 2017

I am not sure why they split, could be the quality of the crayon and it could be also due to over heated.

Sash

Wednesday 29th of July 2015

Hi may I ask whether melting the crayon/oil pastels in ovens result in producing toxic fumes/smell. If yes, would the smell/fumes make the oven not food safe?

Thanks!

Mary

Friday 18th of August 2023

@Craft Passion, Did you mean, "never use the mold again for food"? Is it necessary to wash the inside of the oven after this project?

Craft Passion

Wednesday 5th of August 2015

Hi Sash, As mentioned in the tutorial, never use the oven for food again after it is being used for this project.

raginipanthri

Thursday 29th of January 2015

we can use oil pastels also

Craft Passion

Saturday 31st of January 2015

Exactly, Ranginipanthri, as the name of this tutorial to recycle oil pastels and crayons. Hope you have enjoyed this project :)

pratibha rawat

Monday 15th of October 2012

i m so excited n feeling so good to saw these types of craft,projcts,work etc...i mean dis is awsome..there is no othr gud site i found as good ur site is.it is so useful dat any1 can easily make these type of crafts without any problem....u dnt knw how much useful is dis site for me...n da main thing its freeeeeeee