My older borax crystal snowflake post is getting lots of hits lately. I guess everyone is looking for Christmas decoration ideas. Because of its’ increased popularity, because my kids requested to make these again, and since we took lots of photos because Zach wants to make a step-by-step book on Christmas decorations, here’s a very detailed borax crystal snowflake “how to”.
Materials:
- wide mouth jar
borax
boiling water
pipe cleaner
pencil
string or fishing line
Cut three even lengths of pipe cleaner. (We did our 10cm each since that is what fit well in our jars.)
Spread out each end.
Add extra embellishments if desired.
Attach string to one arm of your snowflake.
Tie string to pencil and adjust length so that snowflake will not touch the bottom of the jar.
Pour boiling water into jar. Add borax until no more will dissolve. (About 3 tbsp. per cup of water)
Lower snowflake into solution.
Leave undisturbed overnight.
Or if you start early enough they will be finished the same day! It was very exciting to watch how quickly the crystals formed once they got started.
Next batch: embellished snowflakes and “icicles”.
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I like those! I’m definitely going to try them with the kids. Thanks!
Ok that is just a great idea…when I am done exams I am going to do this with the girls. They will love to watch them grow and they are so pretty! thanks for the idea!
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this is such a cool project right now i’m doing it for a science project at school
Hi! I love those snowflakes!
I’m from Portugal, but I can’t find the pipe cleaners.. 😦 If everyone knows where I can find it, here…please tell me.
These are so cool. I did them a few years ago for a science project, and it was so easy and WAY fun.
It works well to put an led light inside with wire and add the battery when its dry. The led light is 99 cents at radio shack and any small wire will work. Just use a AA battery and you have a beautiful lighted snowflake.
Great idea! Thanks for the tip.
these are a FABULOUS idea!
Are they edible though???
They are a lot of fun for the kids to make, but they are definitely not edible. I’ve thought about trying something similar, but with a sugar solution….. might work, but also might feel funny licking a fuzzy pipe cleaner!
Hi, have just found this post and was wondering whether the crystals stay hard, or whether they start falling off. Thanks Renee
I have some that are two years old and they are in perfect condition. The only thing I would warn about is they seem to deteriorate in direct sunlight. We had some hanging in a very sunny room and within a few months they turned white and started to crumble.
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It’s an oldie but a goodie! Great step-by-step post! Thanks for putting this together to make it simple for everyone!
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