Crayola Techno Brite Crayons and Markers: What's Inside the Box

The Crayola Techno Brite Crayons box came out in 1997. It is very similar the Hot Fluorescent box that came out years earlier, but the names are all centered around technology. On the back it says, "Try these bright high-tech colors for all your high resolution graphics!! (and your pictures too!).  The crayon names are so funny, floppy yellow, point & click green, www.purple.  They came out when computers were starting to play a major part in everyone's lives, not quite their daily lives yet.  I think we had internet, but it was the super slow aol.com.  It would take forever to load and would say "You've Got Mail" when you signed in.

This blog post contains affiliate links.
Click here to search for these on Click here to search for these on eBay, may or may not be available.
Techno Brite marker pictures in this post by Stacey Hodges.

Crayola also came out with a box of Techno Brite markers. Crayola likes to make boxes of matching crayons and markers.  The main difference with the markers is they were called Cool Shades after Techno Brite. The colors contained in the box would later be used for another box of markers.  I am unsure what the box is called at the moment, but will research it.

These two boxes were introduced in 1997. I think they were introduced to promote the new Crayola website. The website was developed in late 1996. All the boxes made in 1997 included the text, "For more information including Fun Project Ideas, visit the Crayola INTERNET site at: http://crayola.com". It is so interesting they made the text in red and they also called it INTERNET instead of website and included the http:// instead of www.

I never bought the Crayola Techno Brite crayons when I was a kid.  I was in high school by that point and probably worried about high school things. And I did not have a lot of money. I wish I would have bought them though and so many more boxes. There are some truly great boxes that came out around that time.  Crayola was experimenting a lot with of different effects with crayons.  I picked up this Canada box from a fellow collector who is selling his entire collection. I wish I had the money and the room to buy his whole collection.

Read More »

16 Count Crayola Pearl Brite Crayons: What's Inside the Box

The Crayola Pearl Brite crayons came out in 1997, one was a 8 count box and other a 16 count box. These crayons are similar to Silver Swirls crayons. They came out at a time when crayola was doing a lot of experimentation. They produce a soft luster on the paper hence the Pearl Brite name. The crayons are all named on an ocean theme with pearl at the end.

I never bought the Crayola Pearl Brite crayons when I was a kid.  I was in high school by that point and probably worried about high school things. And I did not have a lot of money. I wish I would have bought them though and so many more boxes. There are some truly great boxes that came out around that time.  Crayola was experimenting a lot with of different effects with crayons.  I have not found a patent on this box, but they remind me of the Silver Swirl crayons.  I picked up this Canada box from a fellow collector who is selling his entire collection. I wish I had the money and the room to buy his whole collection.  This is my first international box of crayons.  I am excited to have them.  The other box comes from Stacy Hodges whose story is very similar to mine.  She has a ton of crayons and has been collecting them her whole life.

This blog post contains affiliate links.





The box design is different for the Us and Canada boxes. The Canada box is white, and does not contain a year on the box.  It also has the word nacres on the front and French writing on the back.  It references www.crayola.com/canada.  The crayon wrappings are not colored. The US box contains the specs on the front, and the year on the back.  The back is the same color as the front and the crayon wrappers have the same color as the crayon on them.


Read More »

Erasable Colored Pencils: What's Inside the Box

The Crayola Erasable colored pencils are the first time Crayola made colored pencils erasable.  I bought the Crayola Erasable Pencils way back in the day, in 2002.  I recently bought some more this last year to see the difference in the pencils. The box and pencil design have changed.  The pencils are more plain now, they removed the swirly lines from the pencils.  I think it's a great idea to have Erasable Colored Pencils.  It can really help when coloring and when things are colored on, which happens  a lot around here.

This blog post contains affiliate links.


Read More »

8 Count Crayola Metallic Colored Pencils: What's Inside the Box

The Crayola Metallic Colors colored pencils feature 8 metallic colors. The colors create shimmering effects on the paper. I bought the Crayola Metallic Colors Colored pencils a while ago, I actually do not remember where, but they can still be purchased in stores that sell Crayola products.  Some of these pencils appear in the 100 Colored Pencils pack, but not all of them.

This blog post contains affiliate links.


Read More »

Crayola Metallic FX and Metallic Crayons: What's Inside the Box

In 2000 Crayola introduced the Metallic box and had a contest to name them. That is why the original colors were not named. The contest was open to residents of Canada and the United states. The contest was judged by a panel at Binney & Smith, Inc based on Creativity, Originality and Appropriateness. The winners were awarded with 16 Crayola brand product assortments. Here are the winners for each crayon color. They were announced on the website and not the crayon. Unfortunately I was not able to find all the winners names because not all the pages were archived. Let me know if you know some.
  • blast off bronze (Gregory A. Milton, FL)
  • shimmering blush (Darla C.J. Evington, VA)
  • big dip o'ruby (Audrey B. Auburn, IN)
  • bittersweet shimmer
  • alloy orange
  • metallic sunburst
  • gold fusion (Dale K. Griggsville, IL)
  • sheen green (Amy N.C. Monroe, MI)
  • illuminating emerald (Joanna Masher from Hanover Township, PA)
  • metallic seaweed (Jennifer T. Brentwood, TN)
  • steel blue (Karen T. Fort Wayne, IN) 
  • b'dazzled blue
  • cyber grape
  • razzmic berry
  • sonic silver
  • deep space sparkle
This blog post contains affiliate links.

A story of  one of the winners Joanna says, "I entered the contest online. I used a thesaurus for words relating to space and colors. Then put the word and color together. Illuminating Emerald was my winner! I received a box of goodies from Crayola and they were in an old Crayola wood crate. It’s awesome to tell everyone I named a Crayola crayon!!"

I have had the Crayola Metallic FX crayons for years.  I like them, but I do not like them as much as I like the Silver Swirls, nothing can ever replace that crayon.  I do not have the original box, but I have two of them.  These crayons can still be found in big boxes of Crayola crayons and some specialty boxes such as the Star Wars crayon boxes.  

Read More »

8 Count Crayola Meltdown Crayons: What's Inside the Box

The Crayola Meltdown boxes came out in 2012. I missed the Crayola Meltdown boxes the first time they were available.  They were only available at Walmart and select Walmarts at that. Sadly, my Walmart did not have them. They were made because melting crayons had become very popular. They are some of my favorite design of boxes. The boxes feature themed colors and melted crayons on the box.

 I thought I had lost the opportunity to get these forever, unless I wanted to pay an arm and leg on eBay.  I bought a few of the boxes at Michaels which came in a Meltdown art set.  I bought it just for those boxes, yes.  A few weeks later I saw that they were available at JoAnn Fabrics and online, even better.  A lot of times collectible crayons are not available online. Crayons are so cheap many stores like Target do not even put some of them on their website.  I immediately picked up the boxes, and an extra set.  I am so excited to have them all.  I LOVE the box design.  And I love the color combinations inside the box.

This blog post contains affiliate links.


These boxes started the same year, 2012 as the Pick Your Pack boxes at Target.  It was Walmart's themed box.

Read More »

4 Ways to Find Engaging Toys For Kids

Have you ever spent hours trying to pick out a toy for your kid, have them look at it for a minute then go play with the pots and pans? So much time is spent scouring amazon reviews looking for the perfect gift. So much money is spent on buying these gifts and so many homes are cluttered with unnecessary toys.

This blog post contains affiliate links.

Why did your children not respond toys the way we anticipate?  What can you get your child for birthdays and holidays that they will not disregard and in a matter of minutes? I've got a few suggestions and toys that will change your life forever. The key to finding a good toy is how well it engages the children's imaginations. Plain and simple as that, if the child can play with the toy in multiple ways, they will.  If they can only play with it one way they will grow bored with it.

How can we find these toys?  Here are 4 guidelines to examine when buying a toy.

1. Find generic toys.  We bought this kitchen for our kiddos this summer, toys are usually cheaper in the summer.  We  loved the colors because we have a girl and a boy. We wanted both of them to feel like it was their kitchen. The pots came from from Ikea. They are simple and plain, but can be used in many different ways.  My kids have spent countless hours fixing food with friends, having picnics, and cooking soups in the pots. It is one of our friends favorite spots when they visit. My son loves to use the kitchen to play with his cars.  He also cooks food for us. The kitchen also contains storage room for their food so they can pull it out when they want it and put it away when they are done.


2. Avoid talking and complicated toys. We have a lot of talking toys at our house.  Do my kids play with them?  Not really.  The problem with these toys is they only allow the child to play with them one way, they are not using their imagination. The toy is telling the kids how to play with it.  The kids are not engaging their imaginations and become bored.  We bought a hot wheels raceway for our son and gave it to him a month ago.  He plays with it sometimes, but he found the track didn't work very well, the cars sometimes fall off.  Most of the time he ends up just stacking his cars on the raceway instead of turning it on.  I am glad we did not pay full price for it. We are getting him a train set for Christmas and I have a feeling he will like it so much better.  He can move the trains anywhere he wants and there is not a wrong way to play with the toy.

3. Coloring is for girls and boys. My kids love to color, both of my kids do.  I have often heard moms say their boys just do not like to color.  What do they color most of the time, coloring books? No, they color on blank pages.  They LOVE blank pages.  They can created anything they want on these pages.  My five year old now carries around a blank notebook and is writing letters because she wants to, not because the page is telling her to write letters.  My boy loves to color with his markers and makes some of the funnest designs on his pages.

My son's art
Click here to buy on Amazon
4. BlocksLegos, Haba toys and Melissa and Doug toys, are your friends.  What are so good about these type of toys?  They engage their imagination, have I said this already?  They can sort them by size and color.  They can create whatever they want to. The list goes on an on. When my son turned two he instantly gravitated to Duplo blocks.  He spends hours arranging them. My kids love creating airplanes with Legos.  My daughter and son use pattern blocks to create fun unique patterns. There are endless possibilities with these toys.

Now that you know how what to look for in toys, get rid of some of those non engaging toys in your house and find the perfect fun, engaging and imaginative toy for your little one. Your house, kids and pocketbook will thank you.

Read More »

8 Count Crayola Shopkins Themed Crayons: What's Inside the Box

 I was so excited to find the Crayola Shopkins themed boxes at Toy R Us.  I saw people had found them there and went to Toys R Us that night.  At first I could not find the cookie box, and had two kids running wild, but I looked a little hard around the store and there they were.  I think there are matching coloring books supposedly, but I could not spot them.

I first heard about Shopkins a couple months ago.  They are super BIG and popular with the elementary crowd. I was at a birthday party and the birthday girl got them for her birthday. In each package there's a surprise, kind of like cabbage patch dolls back in the day. There are people that dedicate YouTube channels just to show the surprise as they open them.

This blog post contains affiliate links.



Read More »

Crayola Marker Giveaway

ENDED. I'm giving away a set of new set of 12 Crayola Adult Coloring Fine Line Markers in honor of reaching 2000 followers on Instagram!!  These markers are will go perfect with any coloring book young or old.  The entry form is below.  You will love these if you win!

12 Crayola Adult Coloring Fine Line Markers

Read More »

65 Piece Crayola Pencils set with Graphite Pencils: What's Inside the Box

Crayola does not typically sell graphite pencils.  When I saw this 65 Piece Crayola Pencils Design and Sketch set with the graphite pencils, I knew I had to have it.  There are 25 colored pencils and 21 unique pencils.  The set includes some instructions on how to draw and blank pages. I would love to use these pencils, but I want to keep them in mint condition, ah the problems of a collector.  We will see which side wins out.

This blog post contains affiliate links.


The one thing I do not like about this set is the packaging, the cool packaging is plastic and can not be put back on once the set has been opened, bad news for a collector.  The case seems like nice enough, why can't they adhere a sticker to the front and the back with the packaging information and tape the tabs to make sure people do not get in it, or enclose the set in clear plastic.  I opened it, but I have not figured out yet how I am going to keep the plastic with the set, either let it be loose or glue it on somehow which I wish had been done in the first place.

As a bonus I have used the pencil sharpener and love it.  It sharpens pencils very nicely.


Read More »