Amaze Your Kids With Colorful and Glittering DIY Borax Crystals

Want to "grow" your own colorful glittering crystals in a few steps?

This simple DIY borax crystal project can be made in your kitchen with simple supplies. Your kids will be amazed.

"Growing" your own giant borax crystals in a few steps is a great way to meet your kids chemistry.

[Image source: Danslelakehouse]

Borax powder is a great colorless compound typically used as laundry detergent. Besides its various uses, borax gives you a chance to grow your own crystals in many shapes based on the skeleton you design.

[Image source: Instructables]

The only things you need are a few pipe cleaners, food coloring, borax powder and a heat-proof glass container.

Here are the supplies you need:

[Image source: Danslelakehouse]

* Fuzzy pipe cleaners in the color crystal you want
* Powdered borax detergent
* Scissors
* Thread
* Neon food coloring in the colors you want
* A piece of stick or a pencil, or whatever you can use as a hang on the top of the container
* A heat proof glass container
* Hot water
* Heater
* Cookie cutters if you want to make different shapes

How to Make Borax Crystals

Shape the skeleton

[Image source: Instructables]

First of all, start by twisting your fuzzy pipe cleaners into the shape you want. As we wrote above, you can shape them with cookie cutters or something else to get different forms as well. To make a bigger crystal, add more pipe cleaners together.

Mix the components

[Image source: Instructables]

A lot of people suggest measuring the components, but the sizes vary. The important way to get the best crystals is making a highly-saturated mixture in your glass container. Fill your container with water as much as you want to have crystals. Keep adding more borax powder into the water until it's saturated enough and no more would dissolve. Be sure your water is hot to get the best result.

Add the food coloring

[Image source: Danslelakehouse]

Borax naturally doesn't have a color. It is normally has a white-ish tone. Thus, adding food coloring into the solution will give you a chance to grow your crystal in the color you want to. You can also mix different colors as well.

Be sure there are no bubbles left

[Image source: Danslelakehouse]

While the water is still hot, dunk your pipe cleaner in and out of the Borax solution. Shake off any air bubbles. Once the pipe cleaner is suspended with a pencil or other object, cover the top of the beaker with cardboard. Let the skeleton soak in the solution overnight. During the night, the solution gets cooler, and the slow cooling encourages the crystal development.

The final result:

[Image source: Instructables]

You end up with fascinating, glittering borax crystals! The best part: if you want more crystals, you can still re-use the solution by adding more borax powder. Repeat the process again, and you can even add different colors as well!

[Image source: Danslelakehouse]

Moreover, if you know basic color schemes, there is no limit to the color variations.

[Image source: Danslelakehouse]

SEE ALSO: Remember Everything With Your Own DIY Remembrall 

If you like to see the full process from start to finish, you can watch the video below.

Via: Danslelakehouse, Instructables