Directions for Borax Crystal Decorations

Add borax crystal decorations to seasonal wreaths for added sparkle.

Growing borax crystals is a fun activity for children and adults. You can use craft materials to create glittering crystal decorations for your home. Use these decorations to adorn windows, flower arrangements or holiday items such as Christmas trees and candelabras. You can color the crystals or leave them natural to coordinate with your decor.

Things You'll Need

• Pipe cleaner or floral wire
• String, cotton
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Glass measuring cup (4 cup)
• Microwave
• Glass jar, wide mouth
• Spoon, long handle
• Boiling water, 1 to 2 cups
• Borax, 1 to 2 cups

Instructions

1. Bend a pipe cleaner or floral wire into a decorative shape. Popular options are stars, snowflakes or crystal shapes. You also can wrap the wire around a pencil or pen to create a decorative spiral. If you use floral wire to create the shape, cover the final design in cotton string to provide a rough surface for the borax.

2. Tie one end of a cotton string around the shape and the other end to a pencil. The pencil should be longer than the diameter of the glass container.

3. Boil 1 to 2 cups of water in the microwave in a glass measuring cup.

4. Add the borax to the hot water one tbsp. at a time and stir between each addition. Keep adding borax until you supersaturate the solution. You will know that the solution is supersaturated when no more borax will dissolve in the water and it begins to collect at the bottom of the container.

5. Pour the solution into the wide-mouth, glass container.

6. Hang the wire shape in the glass jar and rest the pencil on top. The shape should hang in the center of the solution so that it does not touch the sides or bottom of the container. Roll the string around the pencil if it is too long.

7. Place the container in a cool place where it will remain undisturbed. Check your decoration every few hours and remove it when the crystals cover the shape. There is no specific size requirement for the crystals so you can leave the shape in the solution as long as you like to create small or large crystals. The longer the shape hangs in the solution, the larger the crystals will grow.

Tips & Warnings

• For colored decorations, add a few drops of food coloring to the finished borax and water solution.

• Check the solution often to ensure that the crystals do not completely fill the container and lock the decoration in place.

• Attach a length of thick-gauge floral wire to the shape before you submerge it in the solution if you intend to use the final decoration in a flower arrangement and need to insert the item into floral foam.

• Borax is harmful if ingested. Keep away from small children.

References

• This and That: Crystal Growing
• Kamehameha Schools; Crystal Project WebQuest; Growing Crystals