You I've been wanting to make Borax Snowflakes forever. I wouldn't have put it off this long if I'd know HOW STINKING EASY IT IS!
Now, I did already have the Borax and pipe cleaners on hand but even if you don't that's a pretty short shopping list.
You simply use the pipe cleaners to twist up some snowflakes.
Hang them inside a wide-mouthed jar. I didn't even use string. I just kept one end of the pipe cleaner long and bent it around the pen I was using to hang it over the top of the jar.
You boil one cup of water (or however much it takes to submerge your snowflake) and mix in 3 tablespoons of borax per cup.
Let set overnight and BAM! crystal snowflakes!
You could use colored pipe cleaners. You could use food coloring in the water. The possibilities are endless, but the craft itself is SIMPLE!
So, how does it work? From Steve Spangler Science:
"You put a bunch of pipe cleaners that had been twisted into a snowflake shape into a solution of borax and water. How in the world did it turn into this beautiful crystal snowflake?
When you mixed the borax in with the water, you created a suspension. A suspension is a mixture that contains solid particles large enough to settle out. By mixing the borax into hot water, instead of room temperature or cold water, the borax stays suspended longer within the water.
As the borax begins to settle out, or sediment, it begins to crystallize. You’ll see this crystallization on both the bottom of the jar and, you got it, on your snowflake. The borax continues to sediment on top of the snowflake and on top of other borax crystals until you pull it out of the water the next morning."
Enjoy!
