Borax Crystal Nature Ornaments | Christmas Science

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This season we have made so many fun Christmas decorations with the kids! Things that we are proud to display around our house like Christmas window gel clings and our snowy snowman. After we made our borax crystal ornaments using pipe cleaners I got another idea that has turned out splendid results: borax crystal nature ornaments.

The best feature of these nature ornaments is that they can made with whatever you find outside your own door. It could be anything! We found that things with a little bit of texture, like branches from an evergreen tree and cockleburs, worked the best. However, you should gather a variety of items and see what works the best for you! It’s all part of being a scientist. Test out different samples, see what works, and share pictures with us on Facebook!

Things like cactus, sticks, and flowers will probably work. We unsuccessfully tried growing borax crystals on leaves, pinecones, and acorns, but found that the crystals slid off easily due to their smooth texture.

Make Borax Crystal Nature Ornaments

Materials

Samples from nature

String

Pencil

Mug, vase, or jar

Boiling Water

Borax – This is an inexpensive ingredient in so many of our science experiments. Make slime or a borax crystal snowman with the leftovers.

Directions

• Tie a piece of string to your nature ornament. You can use string, yarn, or even dental floss if you want!
• Attach the string to a pencil, pen, spoon, or other long object and set aside.
• Fill your jar or vase with boiling water. Add 3 Tablespoons of borax per cup of water and stir. It’s okay if some borax settles on the bottom of your container.
• Lower your nature ornament into the hot water/borax mixture. Make sure it is not touching the sides or the bottom of your container, and that you can get it through the mouth of your container easily. It is fine to have two ornaments in one large container just as long as they don’t touch.

• Make sure your jar is in a quiet place where it won’t be disturbed. You don’t want it to get jostled or bumped at all while the crystals are growing.
• After a couple of hours you will start to see crystals growing! Leave your mixture overnight for best results, or remove your ornaments after a few hours if you want only a light dusting of crystals.
• Let your borax crystal nature ornaments dry on a paper towel for an hour or so. When dry, pick it up and admire it in the sunlight. The crystals look like tiny icicles. You will want to grab a magnifying glass to observe them more closely!

I love these because they look just like snow-dusted, frosty, sparkly bits of nature. We adorned our Christmas tree with them, but they would also be gorgeous additions to a winter scene on a mantel.

Interested in learning more about the science of crystals? Read more here.