Okay, so I saw these super cute crystal Christmas trees all over Pinterest and I just had to try making my own. I mean, who doesn’t love a little sparkle during the holidays? Plus, I figured it would be a fun project to do, and maybe even a bit of a science experiment. Let me tell you, it was both!
Gathering My Supplies
First things first, I needed to gather all my supplies. I didn’t want to get halfway through and realize I was missing something crucial. Here’s what I ended up needing:
- Borax: You can find this in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores. It’s the magic ingredient!
- Pipe cleaners: I went with green, because, you know, Christmas trees. But you could totally get creative with colors!
- Boiling water: Gotta be super careful with this stuff, obviously.
- Wide-mouth jar or container: Something that can handle boiling water.
- String or fishing line: To suspend the pipe cleaner tree.
- Pencil or chopstick: To hang the tree from.
- Optional: Food coloring: If you want to give your crystals a little tint.
Shaping the Trees
Next up, I grabbed my pipe cleaners and started twisting them into little tree shapes. I just kinda freehanded it, making some squiggles and spirals. It definitely doesn’t have to be perfect; the crystals will make them look amazing no matter what! I made a few different sizes, just to see how they’d turn out.
The Borax Solution
I fill the jar with boiling water.
Then slowly added the Borax,I stirred it in until it wouldn’t dissolve * took to get the water completely saturated.
Hanging the Trees
I tied some string to the top of each of my little pipe cleaner trees. Then, I tied the other end of the string to a pencil, so the tree could hang down into the jar without touching the bottom or sides. It’s kinda like fishing, but for crystals!
The Waiting Game
This was the hardest part! I carefully lowered each tree into its jar of Borax solution, making sure it was fully submerged. Then, I just…waited. I put the jars in a spot where they wouldn’t be disturbed, and tried to be patient. It takes a good few hours, or even overnight, for the crystals to really form.
The Big Reveal!
Okay, the waiting was totally worth it! The next morning, I pulled out these GORGEOUS, sparkling crystal Christmas trees! They were so much cooler than I even expected. The crystals had grown all over the pipe cleaners, making them look like they were covered in tiny diamonds. I even added a little bit of green food coloring to some other jars, and some blue to some jars,I made green and blue crystal christmas * pretty!
I carefully took them out of the jars and let them dry on some paper towels. Once they were dry, they were surprisingly sturdy. Now I have a whole bunch of these sparkly little trees to decorate with! I might even give some away as gifts. Definitely a successful project, and I’d totally recommend giving it a try!
