Okay, so I saw this awesome “crystal pine tree” thing online and thought, “I gotta try that!” It looked so cool and magical, perfect for a little desk decoration or something. So, here’s how my attempt went, bumps and all.
Gathering the Supplies
First, I needed to get all the stuff together. I was working from memory of what I saw online, so it’s possible I forgot something, no biggie. Here is the material list I used.
- Cardboard: I just grabbed a cereal box from the recycling bin. Figured it was sturdy enough.
- Scissors: For cutting out the tree shape, obviously.
- A shallow dish: I used a plastic takeout container lid.
- Magic “crystal growing” solution:Okay, here’s where I kinda winged it. It had to be, Salt, water, and that blue stuff for, you know, washing…
- Green food coloring: Because, duh, it’s a pine tree.
Making the Tree
Next up, I made the tree shape. I’m no artist, so I just freehanded a simple triangle-ish shape on the cardboard and cut two of them out. Then, I cut a slit halfway down one tree and halfway up the other, so they could slot together and stand up. It wasn’t super pretty, but it worked!
I did end up trimming the base a bit to make it fit better in my container lid. A little trial and error there.
The “Magic” Potion
This is where things got interesting. I mixed up a solution:
A lot of regular table salt.
Warm water (just enough to dissolve the salt).
A tiny bit of the bluing (seriously, just a drop!).
Some drops of green food coloring.
I stirred it all up until the salt mostly dissolved. It was still a little cloudy, but I figured that was okay.
Setting It Up and Waiting
I put the cardboard tree in the dish and poured the solution around the base. I didn’t soak the whole tree, just the bottom part that was touching the dish. Then came the hard part: waiting.
I put it on a windowsill where it wouldn’t get bumped and…waited. And waited. And waited some more.
The Results (or Lack Thereof)
Honestly? It wasn’t quite the spectacular crystal explosion I was hoping for. I got some crystals forming, mostly around the edges of the cardboard. They were more like a salty crust than sparkly gems. The green color definitely showed up, though, so it at least looked a little bit like a tree.
After a day or two, I decided to call it. It wasn’t getting any more crystal-y, and I was getting impatient. The cardboard was also starting to get a little soggy and floppy. So I used a little bit more bluing, and it went better.
Lessons Learned
Okay, so my crystal pine tree wasn’t a total Pinterest win. But, I did learn a few things:
- Patience is key: Crystal growing takes time! Maybe I needed to wait longer, or maybe my solution wasn’t quite right.
- Cardboard might not be the best material: It gets soggy. Maybe thicker cardboard or even something like felt would work better.
- The “magic” solution is probably important: I need to do a little more research on the best recipe for crystal growing.
- More Bluing:More Bluing makes the tree look better.
Even though it wasn’t perfect, it was still a fun little experiment! I might try it again sometime, with a few tweaks. Maybe I’ll even get those sparkly crystals next time!
