I have to carve a crayon for an art class - I can't melt it, only cut with an Xacto - got any info to help me?

Check out the concept of Hobo nickels. It is carving a pre-existing small object into another artform. The artist Chau creates carved crayons in a similar fashion.

Here's an article about an exhibit from the artist:

Crayon carvings draw from a bygone childhood

Across from the Harvard Exit Theater, Joe Bar fills with Cornish College students. Passionately, they debate musical keys, art interpretations and environmental design. Computers abound, screens glowing alongside lattes and panini. No one is using a crayon.

But on shelves and in wall boxes, intimate Crayola sculptures by former Cornish student Diem Chau hail to childhoods left behind. Sculpted into the top inch of crayon totem poles, the intricate figures evoke needs of protection and preservation. Like Native American fetishes prized for spiritual renewal, Chau's characters allude to stories as the treasures that sustained her family while migrating from Vietnam to the Philippines to the United States.

Earlier nomads, the Depression hobos, carved tales into nickels, trading them for food or a bed. Adapting the hobo nickel folk art to crayons, Chau embraced the mundane as a familiar material she hopes will demystify art.

Chau's talismans celebrate people. Her "Grandmother in Beehive" told incredible stories. "Asian? Orange" (a play on Agent Orange?) depicts a kimono-clad woman with hair in a topknot. "Schoolgirls" sling book bags across their chests. "My Imaginary Big Sister" stands tall, pale and faceless, an umbrella-toting protector of her tangerine sister. A quarter-inch dog lusts after a bone clasped by a boy, the girl in "Bad Hair Day" scowls and "Bride of 17" dons a floral-crowned veil. A magnifying glass would help discern the astonishing detail.

Two large paintings (48 by 72 inches) complement the sculptures. Against an aqua background permeated by dripping pop-art dots and flowers, young men in slacks and crisp white shirts -- Chau's father and friends on graduation day -- emerge from the past. Reincarnated from photos Chau viewed after her father's death, the serene imagery manifests the exuberance, fears and hopes of youth poised at the moment of transition -- like the students at Joe Bar.

The sculpture is already in the crayon, all you have to do is chip away the extra pieces.

Seriously, though, don’t can your creativity by looking at carved crayons. Look into the world around you and find your inspiration there. Experiment with your medium and then find an image that you feel for as well as like that can be encapsulated by that medium. Now all you really have to do is chip away the extra pieces.

Look into japanese carved chopped sticks or hair ornaments. Or japanese ivory carvings. As a teacher, I can tell you that you will score points if it is unique (NOT a totem pole!) and if it looks like some research went into it- so when you present it and talk about japanese art and design or ornamentation, it will go over well, (even if it doesn't look good!) Buy a pack and do at least 5 and pick the best one. Don't worry if it "makes sense". Good Luck!

http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.ex...

http://www.artasiaonline.com/images/Artasia/chopst...

http://www.pillagedvillage.com/intpvonline/images/...

you could go to www.infofreako.com. I did a search on carve crayons for art class and they had examples of pencils that were carved, but I was in a hurry and had to log off... Wish I could be more help

A skyscraper, an airplane, a ruler, a sword.

Make a mini totem pole.

Don't do in front of a sunny window, and don't run with it down the hall!

You should make a mini totum pole! That'd be cool!

sounds like the assignment matches the students' level of creativity. don't cut yourself.

tikis!!!!!!totempoles!!!animals climbing a tree!!!!an eagle on a dead pinetree!!!a chinese temple atop a craggy peak!!!an anaconda wrapped AROUND A DEER!!