Making Palm-sized Crayons for Gravestone Rubbing Techniques

A crayon rubbing of a heuchera flower stem.

In the days before cameras, paper copies of gravestones were taken using crayon rubbing techniques. Historians and genealogists used these copies to prove birth and death dates for people. Doing crayon rubbings of old gravestones is discouraged by some now, because some stones have been damaged in the past by multiple rubbings weakening the stones. Some cemeteries do not allow people to take do gravestone rubbings. It's always best to ask and it is always recommended to protect historical markers so it's as if you've never been there. 

I'm working on a project where I will need a lot of palm sized crayons for working with children and other people, and the budget won't allow to buy the professional palm sized crayons. So I decided to try melting down old crayons to make them. 

I used a silicon muffin tin for this project, and an oven. First, I peeled the crayons. This can be therapeutic, or soul-crushing. I took a craft knife and cut through the length of the paper to make it easier to peel the crayons.

Then I broke them into pieces and sorted them into color families in a silicon muuffin pan. 

I covered a baking sheet with tin foil, and put the silicon muffin tin on the covered baking sheet. I preheated the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Then I "baked" the crayons for around 12-15 minutes, until all the crayons were melted. The cups on the outer part of the muffin tin melted first. It took a while for the middle sections to melt. I could have stirred the wax at this point, to make the color consistent. But I kind of like the striations. 

After they came out of the oven, I let them cool and harden 

for about 30 minutes while I was doing other things. 

Then I popped them out of the muffin pan. 

       That part was fun! 

The above work like crayons do, because they ARE crayons. I tested them out, and they work for my purposes for the group project. Having said that, if I were only going to be doing this for me, I would buy an official one from a place that sells gravestone rubbing supplies.