Large, Beautiful Crystals Made from Borax

I’m part of the creative team at my church. We’re in charge of the set up and decor for our conferences, theme, and seasonal changes throughout the year. Our annual women’s conference, called Priceless, is happening at the end of this month. Our theme this year is “Original” and our colors are pearls and purples.

We were trying to find some pretty amethyst to decorate our tables with and they’re just too pricey.

As alternative solution, I came across the idea of creating your own crystal rocks on Pinterest. Wouldn’t you know that stashed away in my surplus of random craft items I had everything I needed to create these beauties. I even had the Borax on hand from a slime making science experiment with the kids a long time ago.

My DIY amethyst crystals are my project this month for the Craft Room Destash Challenge. Because, when am I ever going to use the Borax again. And the pipe cleaners have just been sitting around since my 8 year old was about 3, making them long past their prime in my house.

The rule to our challenge is that we’re only allowed to use items we already have on hand, but if we need to, we can spend up to $10 for finishing supplies (hot glue, thread, etc). Unlike my previous projects for this challenge, I actually had to spend a little money on another box of Borax, because I didn’t have much left. Otherwise, I had everything I needed already on hand.

As you can see, I really need to do some organizing.

I mean, who stores Borax soap next to their palm sanders and drills? I do I guess.

Maybe one day I’ll do a post about how I cleaned out my craft room.

What you need to create your Borax crystals

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• Borax (it’s a type of soap used for laundry)
• Twine or fishing line
• Skewers
• Chenille pipe cleaners
• Food coloring
• Jar (I used my empty candle jars, see how to clean our yours in THIS post)
• Water
• Cardboard, card stock, or paper plates to cover your jars

This is actually a fun little experiment for the kids to help with too, but it does require adult help and supervision.

First, twist your pipe cleaners together until you have a fun shape. The tighter you can get your pipe cleaners together, the better the base they’ll become for your crystals to grow on.

Then, use your line to tie the pipe cleaner to the skewer that sits on top of the jar.

Boil the water and pour it into the jars while the pipe cleaner is hanging inside it. There’s not really a set amount of portions I can give you for water and Borax. But the formula I used was to fill the jar up past the hanging pipe cleaner, remove the pipe cleaner, and then add Borax a little at a time until the water is white and the soap no longer dissolves.

Add drops of food coloring until you reach your desired color.

Dip the pipe cleaner in the solution a few times until it’s saturated and won’t float at all, then let it hang freely.

Place a sheet of cardboard, card stock, or a paper plate over the top of the jar, and let the solution set for 12-24 hours.

You’ll be amazed at the crystal that forms hanging onto the line!

Simply remove it from the jar and trim the line.

WHAT COULD YOU CREATE WITH YOUR OWN CRAFT ROOM DESTASH ITEMS?

Make sure you check out the other bloggers and be inspired by their projects as well.

Then, go dig through your own stuff and start creating! Let me know what you make!