That's a wrap!

Ebay can be a source for low cost pastels.   I bought this little set well over a year ago and haven't used them much at all, due to that irritating wrapper.  

So I put on a movie and went about stripping them.   Using a razor blade, I sliced the wrapper enough to peel it off.   These pastels are pretty old, this brand now is a larger sized stick, and this set probably has been banged around some.   Due to this, when the wrapper came off, some of the sticks crumbled. 

 As you can see in the first photo, I put the bits into piles of like-colors, then I crushed them up, added distilled water, and made new, whole pastels.   I added other pieces to change the color as well.   Then formed them into shapes I like and let dry.  

Now this set is fully usable, and after all this time, its almost like having a new set!   Although not original to the set, it came to me in this sweet little wooden box, which I will more than likely make into a pochade box at another time.