LET'S GET CRAFTY
with Teryn Daysh
Christmas Tree Crystal Ornament
You will need:
a pencil or stick that is longer than the glass/jar’s opening
wide-mouth jar or glass
Borax (found in laundry section)
colorful pipe cleaners
water
twine
How to:
1. Bend a pipe cleaner into a Christmas tree shape.
2. Fill the glass with water to around three quarters full. Then use a measuring cup to measure the amount of water used.
3. Boil the water in a pan under adult supervision.
4. Carefully pour the boiling water into the glass.
5. Dissolve plenty of Borax into the hot water. For each cup of water, I used 3 tablespoons of Borax.
6. Stir the water until all the powder has dissolved or the powder left at the bottom cannot dissolve further. This phenomenon is called saturation.
7. Tie the Christmas tree you’ve made onto a twine. Hang it using the pencil or stick and put it into the Borax solution. Make sure the pipe cleaner is fully submerged and not touching the side of the glass.
8. Put the glass in an area where it won’t be disturbed for the next few hours.
9. Crystals should start forming immediately and a layer of crystals will cover the pipe cleaner completely within 3-4 hours.
Unlike growing crystals using sugar or salt, crystallization using Borax is relatively fast. Crystals can be seen forming as early as two hours after the glass is set aside.