Bat Crayons: a Scary-Easy Crayon DIY!

Welcome to my tutorial on how to turn crayons into..... BAT CRAYONS!! Buckle up for a batty ride as we make these little charmers together!

The first step in creating our colorful little bat friends is getting your hands on some supplies! Whether you're hunting these down at home or picking them up at the store, here's what you'll need:

• Crayons
• A Batty Mold [Preferably a silicone mold!]
• A Baking Tray
• Oven Mitts
• An Oven

Optional:

• Scissors
• A Non-Batty Mold [Pick your poison folks! It's a free world]

Once you've secured your crayons and other supplies, you get to progress to the next step - Snapping those crayons into itsy-bitsy pieces that'll fit in your mold of choice. Snap 'em, snip 'em, shave 'em if you want - I'd recommend breaking them down to a length no higher than the depth of your mold [A.k.a. - If you look at the mold while level with its top, you shouldn't see any crayons sticking out]. This way, you won't have to worry as much about spillage or overflows once the crayons have melted!

Once you've done that, choose which colors you want in each mold and place them in! Feel free to go for a monochrome crayon or maybe mix it up and do a cool rainbow one - Whatever's the most fun for you!

Now that you've got your colors and combinations all sorted out, it's time to pop those beautiful bat-babies in the oven! Preheat your oven to around 350° F [IMPORTANT: Double check your mold's heat rating first! Do NOT go any higher than recommended by the manufacturer of your mold]. Once it's heated up, place your mold filled with crayon pieces on top of your baking tray with a bit of parchment paper or foil in between the two and slide them on into that oven!

Make sure to close the door and set a timer for 5 minutes. These guys will melt down extremely fast, so please be sure to keep a constant eye on them while they're in there!

Once your crayon creations have melted down to a smooth, almost liquidy texture, carefully remove the tray from your oven using your handy oven mitts and set it somewhere safe to cool down. If you are using a silicone mold like me, please do NOT try to pick up the mold itself!! It is not a rigid mold and will spill hot crayon juice all over you [-11/10, would not recommend]. Go watch a movie or cook some dinner while you wait for these bad boys to solidify and then move on to the next step!

Now that the bats have cooled down, it's time to let them spread their wings! Go ahead and bring your mold full of crayon bats over to wherever you'd like to work on popping them out - your desk, the kitchen table, whatever makes your heart happy. Once you've got them there, go ahead and push the back side of your silicone mold gently until your new friend comes loose. [Hot Tip: Go from the tip of one wing to the other if your mold resembles mine - that way you can help stabilize your bat from both sides while you work it out of the mold! This should help prevent any unfortunate snaps from happening.]

And there you have it - Your very own bat crayons, ready for bat-tle! [Get it? :D] Now you can go forth and conquer the pages of your favorite coloring book in spooky style or sketch out whatever batty ideas you may have - either way, I hope you had fun following my tutorial and that these little guys will bring some joy into your life as you make and use them!!