If you’re looking for a fun, creative, and beautiful DIY project to immerse yourself and your children in this June 2021 – give this DIY crystal borax project a try!
Create unique pieces of art for your home and office, dazzle friends with a cute handmade gift, or start up a small business offering custom-made pieces for customers and their spaces.
Alternatively, keep the kids busy, teach them the uses of Borax, and how science can be a great way of using normal household items to create something unusual.
Before we begin, what is Borax and is it safe for my children to handle?
The answer is, yes. Borax is perfectly safe for your children to work with in a DIY project like this one. Should they happen to ingest the product or get it into their eyes, please follow the safety instructions on the product packaging. Borax is a naturally occurring mineral that's used in detergents, cosmetics, and other chemicals. It helps get rid of stains, mold, and mildew around the house.
Supplies:
- Borax - Product link here: https://www.hallsretail.com/products/borax-1kg?_pos=1&_sid=3efc75d3f&_ss=r
- Water
- Pipe cleaners
- Fishing line
- Stick or object to tie fishing line onto – sosatie or chopsticks.
- Food colouring – the colour of your choosing.
- Something to place over the opening of the jar - towel, oven mitt, cardboard, etc.
- Clear sealant - Product link here: https://www.hallsretail.com/products/fix-all-crystal-soudal?_pos=8&_sid=c4316b86a&_ss=r
Tools needed:
- A pair of scissors.
- Cooking Pot (To boil water in)
- Large, heat-proof, glass jar (Enough to hold at least 750ml).
- A mixing utensil. (Such as a spoon or spatula).
- Measuring teaspoon (5ml) & tablespoon (15ml).
- 250ml measuring cup.
Method:
- Bring 5-6 cups of water to a boil in your cooking pot.
- Take a pipe cleaner and shape it into a circle, oval, or shape of your choice. To reinforce the shape, weave more of the pipe cleaner perpendicular to the original shape. (Note: Make sure that the shape is small enough to fit into the glass jar that you have chosen.)
- Tie one end of the fishing line onto the pipe cleaner shape and the other end onto the stick. Make sure the fishing line is short enough to keep the shape from touching the bottom of the jar.
- Once the water has boiled, add 2 cups to the glass jar (Be careful here, only parents should perform this step). Add in six tablespoons of Borax or three tablespoons per 1 cup of water in a ratio of 3:1, mix the solution to dissolve the Borax powder. Continue adding one teaspoon of Borax at a time until no more Borax will dissolve in the solution. Then add gel or regular food colouring to the mixture until you get the desired colour.
- Place the pipe cleaner shape into the glass jar, covering it with a small towel, cardboard, or oven mitt, and leave this to stand for at least 5 hours.
- After 5-6 hours, check on the crystal formation around your shape. If you’re happy with the result, cut off the fishing line and place the crystal shape onto a paper towel to dry. Alternatively, leave the shape for longer in the solution to form more crystals.
- When you are satisfied with the shape and formation of the crystal and it has dried completely, seal it with a clear sealant to help maintain the crystal’s colour and vibrancy.
- Well done and enjoy your crystal geodes!
We hope you enjoy this little project, to be featured on our social media pages, upload photos of your Borax crystals to Facebook or Instagram, and tag us @Hallsretail, we’d love to see all your creations.
Happy creating everyone!
