Saturday, November 10, 2012

Homemade Holiday Scented Crayons



C was busy coloring in a sheet of gingerbread men, when she commented on how much better it would be if her picture smelled like gingerbread too, and I thought...


...why not?  We've made scented everything else - play dough, finger paint, even wrapping paper...


...why not crayons?  There are plenty of posts out there with instructions for melting, and remolding your children's left over crayon bits. I usually go for the melt-in-the-oven method, but this time I tried out the fast and easy crayons-in-a-can-placed-in-a-bowl-of-boiling-water...


...but added in a few shakes of cinnamon...


...what amounted to about 2 teaspoons of spice per four or five crayons worth of bits...


...before melting the crayon, and pouring the scented wax into a mini cookie cutter with the bottom wrapped in tinfoil...

...to cool and harden...


...into a festive shape.


We followed our cinnamon crayon up with mint (made with two teaspoons of mint extract added to green crayons), and hot chocolate (made with a couple of teaspoons of hot chocolate mix added to brown crayons).  I was all set to make up a black licorice crayon, when I realized I was all out of anise extract, and so decided to call it a night.

I'm sure any of the oils designed for making scented candles would probably work to make scented crayons just as well, but I love finding things right in my own kitchen that can be reworked into fun little presents like these.


You can really smell the mint and cinnamon, even on the paper, though the chocolate is a little more subtle.  I had the Man of the House give them a quick, blind-folded sniff.  He identified the mint right off, and the cinnamon after a second smell, but he guessed the chocolate was vanilla - still a nice scent.

Needless to say, C was thrilled to be able to draw mint trees with cinnamon ornaments and chocolaty...or at least sweet smelling...trunks.

Happy fall from Almost Unschoolers!

14 comments:

Phyllis said...

Wonderful to see a post from you! Congratulations on your nominations.

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Nominations?

Erin said...

What a beautiful surprise to find you in my mailbox this afternoon!

Debbie said...

I too was pleasantly surprised to find a new post. Love this idea what child wouldn't enjoy a scented crayon.

Anonymous said...

We love your hands on learning and was disappointed when there were no more posts, selfish on our part, am glad to see a new post and look forward to making the scented crayons. Thanks for all your ideas and time.

Stephanie said...

Another great idea! I'm linking to it on my blog...and trying it with my daughter and niece next week!

Anonymous said...

yay for a new post!

Ticia said...

You were nominated in a couple of categories on the Homeschool Blog Awards.

I agree glad to see a new post, does this mean we're going to get more posts?

Tara said...

Soo happpy to see a new post! I have gleaned soo much from your blog. God Bless

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Ticia - Maybe more of an occasional now and then post. I couldn't stand to leave things in summer, when fall is so beautiful :) Thanks for the heads up about the Homeschool Blog Awards!

Cindy said...

Glad to see you!!!! :)

Anonymous said...

please don't stop we have only just found you! Fabulous posts

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

I hope you'll keep sharing your ideas from time to time - so good to see you back!

Christy Killoran said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE this! Oh how I have missed your great ideas!