Turn plain 'ol Crayons into crafty customizable gifts using ice trays!
Favor DIY, Favor Porn
By
on August 19, 2010
17
I love finding new ideas for wedding favors that are both geeky AND useful! Check out a Gwenab-inspired wedding favor idea…
And she was nice enough to let us know how she did this…
"The Lego men take one crayon and the Invaders take two. I found twenty minutes at 200 degrees to be best. I would deffinatly say to use silicone molds because I tried some other molds and they were a pain. They pop out pretty easily, the Space Invader molds are a bit of a pain though so i'd recomend buying mold release for around $8."
And Gwenab used the tutorials from here and here.
Just think of all the fun possibilities with these guys, you can find ice tray molds in TONS of stuff. My favorites…
Stars — these would be cool to do a different color for each point.
Flowers and leaves for a nature loving wedding.
Dinosaurs for general awesomeness.
Spiders and spider webs for a Halloween wedding.
Now get to melting!!!
Read more posts about: affiliates, bookish wedding, dinosaurs, geeky wedding, halloween wedding, lego, nerd wedding, stars, wedding favors« Previous post
About Megan Finley
Megan Finley is the Managing Editor for Offbeat Bride and the Associate Publisher for the Offbeat Empire. When she's not slaving away for the Empire, she's sharing her dork side on her own blog and on Twitter @meganfinley.
Jennifer Coulter said
This is so fun, and would be great for a kids table if you have kids at the wedding!
Kat said
We're actually doing this for our wedding. I found that I had issues with the ice trays and much better luck with "muffin" tins. Or basically something that is both microwave/stove and freezer safe.
Also, We did multiple colors in a crayons and ended up with some really cool looking swirly ones.
One last thing to note, the better quality the crayon (crayola vs. dollar tree brand) does make a difference. The dollar tree crayons came out waxy and didn't color as good as the crayola.
Side Note: We found out at the end of the school year that a lot of classrooms will just throw away their crayons and buy new ones at the beginning of the school year. We ended up getting a BUNCH of crayola brand awesome crayons for free from a school.
Brittany said
OMG Koi Fish Love!
You can find cupcake/muffin/whatever pans in shapes as well. They're usually a little more expensive than ice cube trays, but they're designed for easy removal of the stuff that you put in it.
Example:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com…-top-rated
The downside is you'll probably need more crayons per cup. The larger crayons might make great favors/gifts for little kiddos, though.
Emzy said
I want to make these just for the heck of it… looks like so much fun!
Jessica_Iowa said
Me too!
Halle said
I reeeaaaallllly didn't want to give the kids crayons at the wedding, but I think you've convinced me with that skull and crossbones mold. Curse my love for skulls! Lol. Best part? I get to put my son's broken crayons to good use!
kim said
I'm getting married in October and I'd love to make a tree mold, leaf mold and bird mold. Any idea where to look? I've scoured the internet looking. Great idea!!! Thanks!
Gwenab said
http://www.amazon.com/First-Im…atbride-20
http://www.ecrater.com/p/80720…-mold-soap
You can make them yourself too: http://www.makeyourownmolds.com/
Nicole said
You have to be careful with this as to which molds you use. A lot of the cheap silicone molds (from Ikea and dollar stores) are fine for molten chocolate but will melt in the oven. Fred (http://www.worldwidefred.com/home.htm) makes the space invaders and a bunch of other awesome molds that are safe up to 400 degrees.
that1girl said
has anyone tried this recently? can the ice cube trays going in the oven for any amount of time at all? even 200 degrees? id love to try this but im an offbeat-tightwad and don't want to spend the money on a mold im gonna melt :/
Faith said
Try getting some cheepy oven safe glassware (like pie pans) OR tough cupcake cups in muffin tins and heat your color that way. then all you have to do it lay your silicone ice tray in cool/iced water that doent pass the top (about 1/4th inch or so) and fill with spoon! the bonus part? whats left in the cupcake paper can also be used as crowns and "branded" with hot wires to have your initials on it ^^
Melissa said
I love doing this, but I second those that have said BE CAREFUL! Some of them are not meant to be in the oven! I accidentally melted a few one time because I hadn't tested them first.
Bobbiejean said
Thanks! I think the lego men will be a great idea for wedding favors. Where exactly did you get the mold for the men? I don't want to buy the wrong one and have it melt
I found this one but it says 'ice cube.'
Megan Finley said
Yup, that's EXACTLY the right one. All the "crayon molds" are actually ice cube trays!
that1girl said
but won't those melt in the oven?? what temperature should be used??
Megan Finley said
If you refer to Gwenab's quote (the grey quote box near the top of the post) she says: "The Lego men take one crayon and the Invaders take two. I found twenty minutes at 200 degrees to be best." Keep reading her quote for the best kinds of trays to use. Also there have been a lot of conversations re: melting points in the comments section here.
that1girl said
yes ive been following this thread for a while and noticed that there were comments about the ice cube molds melting. since ice cube trays are meant to be frozen, they are not made with the same silicone mixture as baking molds. so I did not assume that her suggested 200 degrees was for both types of molds.
anywho… i also found this tutorial which suggests melting the wax first in soda cans in a pot on the stove, then pouring it into the molds, freezing, and enjoying!
http://www.instructables.com/i…/?ALLSTEPS
i probably wont end up doing either technique for my wedding, but definitely wanna try both for fun!!