Recycle. Reuse. Repurpose. Oh and spread kindness! Who knew broken crayons could be turned into so much kindness?! We learned that not only do broken crayons still color, they can also be used to show LOTS of gratitude.
If you are reading this, it may be because someone special gave you a gift box filled with heart crayons. Maybe an unfamiliar child from your school handed it to you and said "Thanks for all you do!" or perhaps you found this small white package in your mail slot at school. Or maybe you just stumbled upon this story out of curiosity. Whatever brought you here, we hope you enjoy reading about it as much as we enjoyed this project.
This project actually began in the summer of 2023. We started asking for donations of used, broken crayons. We saw this cool idea about repurposing old crayons into beautiful heart shaped crayons. Since our logo is a heart, we always take special note of crafty projects involving the heart!
We tried it out and loved the results so we (casually) started collecting crayons. You will see why I say casually in just a bit :).
We started packaging the crayons in small clear bags, just knowing someone will need these at some point. We weren't really sure who but knew they could serve as a random act of kindness for others.
Fast forward to the spring of 2024, we made a flyer and started asking KindCraft friends to donate their crayons. There were many families doing some spring cleaning and slowly but surely, our stack of crayons grew and grew. We purchased some silicone molds and asked if anyone would have any interest in helping us make them.
We were so appreciative of our KindCraft members and followers for sharing our posts to help us get more crayons!
Thank you Re.Use.Full!!
Thank you Jessica!!
Our crayon collection grew and grew. Every Sunday through May, June, and July, four different families would pick up a large gallon ziploc bag of broken crayons to peel and make into heart crayons. We had more families wanting to help than crayons! We felt like we were constantly begging for crayons.
One of our members asked Scraps KC if they would be willing to share some of their donated crayons and boy did they come through. They donated two HUGE boxes of crayons. This truly was a community effort!!
This means we needed more help peeling crayons. So we had KindCraft families peeling crayons and returning them as soon as they could so they'd be ready for Sunday pick up. As crayons started rolling back in peeled, we sorted them by color and prepared them for Sunday pickups.
When we first started, the temps were cool enough outside that it was ok to leave the crayons on the front porch. Here is a picture of what would be waiting for them to pick up on Sunday.
But as the summer progressed, and the temps rose, we had to start using a cooler to keep the crayons from melting!
We had families picking up crayons and molds on a 7 day rotation. We ordered more molds to make the process go a little faster and so that more families could participate!
We learned a tip that soaking the crayons in water for a bit made the peeling process easier.
We heard LOTS of feedback about the peeling process. Some used an exacto knife, some tried the soaking method, and some complained of sore fingers. Peeling crayons takes lots of time and patience!!
We loved seeing these pictures of the kids making the heart crayons. They are really easy to make. You simply break the crayons into small pieces, place them in the heart mold, and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at a low temperature (250 degrees). Once they are all melted, you remove the tray and allow them to cool!
After they bake, they need to cool for a bit. We found that once they cooled, they were best kept in a single layer to store. Otherwise the wax shavings ended up all over the hearts and they lost that smooth, shiny finish.
After months and months of "production", it was finally time to prepare them in gift boxes. This was our in person service project for August. We wanted to be sure we had these prepared for Back to School.
We gathered at the Olathe Community Center for this service project. Two cars FULL OF crayons and supplies!!
Making the boxes was probably the hardest part for some of the younger kids. We had about 75 guests split over 10 tables.
There were adults at each table so they were able to assist the younger kids in putting together the boxes. Some tables chose to assemble ALL 60 boxes before moving on to Step 2. We used glue dots to hold the flaps securley.
Once the box was assembed, we filled it with brown paper filler to give a cushion for the crayons and to make it look nice. We ordered 30 POUNDS of box filler and told the kids not to fill the box too much. Turns out, we were a bit too conservative and probably could have filled them a bit more as we had close to 20 pounds leftover :)
Next, a small piecie of paper went inside each box, explaining that this was a gift of gratitude and that we are so thankful for them.
Who is "them" you ask? Well the original intent was to show gratitude to those school staff members who may sometimes be overlooked for their hard work and service to our school system. We were thinking we would hand these out to bus drivers, crossing guards, and cafeteria staff.
We created a sign up genius so we could see who families wanted to gift their boxes to. When we did this, the coolest thing started to happen. Families kept thinking of more and more support staff that they wanted to thank. The list included:
school counselors
school secretaries
custodians
speech pathologists
occupational pathologists
school nurses
crossing guards
paras
instructional aids
PTO members
Board of Ed members
cafeteria staff
after school care staff
We loved how thinking of one group led to another and another. Soon enough, our sign up genius was full!
The note also encouraged the recipient to share a heart or two with someone they are thankful for. We love the ripple effect of kindness!
On top of the small note we placed five heart crayons. It was fun to put certain color combinations together. Some chose the traditional rainbow colors, some did all neon hearts, and some of our youngest KindCrafters chose random hearts that they could grab the fastest :)
The box was then sealed with a sticker that said "Thanks for brightening my day!" and wrapped with a colorful elastic!
Some of the attendees had signed up to take home boxes to deliver and others simply came to help assemble. They "checked out" with their boxes as they left and all seemed excited to spread the love. We heard many stories of who they were going to share them with. Some took 3-5 boxes, while some took as many as 50!!
The next morning was Day 1 of gift box pick ups. Families came in the morning to pick up their boxes. We had KindCraft Student Ambassadors working the table and doing some quality control on the boxes.
The Student Ambassadors also helped package up 225 gift bags for bus drivers!
Day 2 pickups went smoothly and we had two other teens helping us for another 4 hours of service! They helped sort and prepare orders and also sorted crayons for us (yes we have MORE crayons!!)
These girls were all smiles and no complaints sitting in a hot garage with summer heat beating down!
We certainly hope you have enjoyed hearing our story and now have a better understanding of just how many played a role in this project. The hardest part for us now is waiting these to be distributed! School is just about a week away so not too much longer!!
Although we are pretty proud of our near Etsy level gift boxes, we think we will stick with our day job of teaching kindness. This project was a LOT of work! :)
Numbers time:
48 families made heart crayons
We stopped counting at 3,600 but know we made close to 4,500 hearts
850+ support staff members across KS and MO from at least 7 school districts will be shown gratitude from KindCrafters as they head back to school
155 different families signed up to pass out crayons
Some fun facts we learned along the way.
Not all crayons melt at the same temperature. If you are wanting consistent melting, use the same brand crayons in your molds.
Binney & Smith created the first box of eight Crayola Crayons in 1903. Sold for a nickel, this box included red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black.
Crayola makes 3 billion crayons a year.
That familiar smell is the 18th most familiar scent for adults in the USA.
We found this image that linked our August and September events! Coincidentally, our next service project will be to make Charlie Brown Activity Kits!
Have a story or comment you'd like to share about this project? Were you a recipient of one of these boxes? We would love to hear your story! Please email us at courtney@kindcraft.org.