My daughters and I made crystal snow flakes out of pipe cleaners and Borax laundry detergent. The results are impressive! We put 12 spindly pipe-cleaner snowflakes into the Borax solution in the evening and woke up in the morning to 12 heavy, jewel-encrusted snowflakes!
I recommend this snow flake craft if you enjoy impressive crystals that sparkle like diamonds. The best thing ever about making these crystal snowflakes is that you only need minimal crafting talent!
My craft attempts usually end up in the FAIL pile on Pinterest. I’m rather impatient. It’s odd, I am detail orientated and a perfectionist when I oil paint because it’s “work.” However, with crafts that are supposed to be “fun,” I have no patience if it isn’t easy, fast and fun.
I’ve tried making crystals before and was disappointed by how slowly they grew. However, the Borax snowflake crystals grew very fast and sparkle like diamonds—very impressive!
The snowflakes are designed to hang on trees. Ours are fairly large (I like things big and flashy). We made 12; which, is a lot considering the snowflakes are so big. This meant we had to use about 16 cups of solution to cover the snowflakes. Smaller snowflakes would be much easier to manage; but, like I said, I never do things on a small-scale (hence why I have so many craft fails under my belt). It was our first attempt, next time I think I’ll try smaller and more complex shapes—so cool.
I hope you enjoy the journey through crystal making and make your own snowflakes tonight:
Supplies needed:
wire cutters for the pipe cleaners
white pipe cleaners
string
Borax laundry detergent (powder in a box)
boiling water
food colouring (optional)
large, deep glass container (or plastic) * we upgraded the size of bowl when we discovered how big our snowflakes were.
long stick or narrow pole to hang snowflakes
Directions:
-Cut 3 pipe cleaners in half. Twist 3 halves around each other in the centre to form a six-sided snowflake shape.
-Tie one end of the string to the snowflake and the other to a long stick or thin pole.
-Place snowflakes hanging into a large container (they should be free hanging and not touch the bottom or each other).
*we made so many and they were huge that ours touched each other and I had to pull them apart in the morning.
-Mix boiling water with Borax and stir until Borax is nearly dissolved: 3 Tbsp of Borax for each cup of boiling water.
-Fill container with enough boiling water/Borax solution to cover snowflake completely (add blue food colouring if you want to give snowflakes a glacial hue).
-Leave snowflakes hanging in solution undisturbed over night. In the morning you’ll be thrilled to discover your gems! Ours touched in the bowl and thus, I had to pry them apart (the good news is the crystals are fairly durable).
Sandra Hart
I’m definitely going to try this. They look beautiful and it doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to do.
Mix Hart
Thanks S. They are very easy to make. I want to make more, try some complex snowflake shapes.