My Education Junction

My grandmother and I made a borax crystal necklace many, many years ago. It wasn’t until recently that I became perplexed by how my grandmother would know how to make such a thing. I find all of my recipes either in books or via the Internet. But when I was a child there was no world wide web. In fact, growing up I didn’t even have cable TV. Our area was so rural that the cable company did not bother to run cable down our road until I was a senior in high school. My grandmother was a very crafty lady, so it should be no surprise that she would be able to concoct such a thing. I only wish I had bothered to ask her how she knew what she knew way back when.

I pulled the borax recipe out of the archives of my mind last weekend. My son and daughter took a trip to COSI, and my son had to buy a crystal making kit. I have a love-hate relationship with such kits. Maybe I have a problem following directions, but my success rate with kits is roughly 50/50. The kit required us to make solution which was then poured over a rock. The claim was that we would begin to see crystals form on the rock in 12 hours. 72 hours later we were to see crystals an inch or more in size protruding from the rock. Days went by and no crystals formed on the rock. Although, small cubicle crystals now encrust the sides of the bowl we used. I suppose a crystal is a crystal, but those on the side of the bowl are not nearly as beautiful or dramatic as what is depicted in the picture on the box.

Needless to say, my son was horribly disappointed. I told him not to worry. His mother was an extraordinary scientist who could create crystals in a matter of hours with a little more than laundry booster. He rolled his eyes. It didn’t take long to convince him, his mother knows how to deliver.

What You Need

1.) 1 wide mouth glass jar

2.) Pipe cleaners, or string

3.) A pencil or pen which is long enough to lay across the mouth of the jar

4.) A washer (to weight down the string -if you choose to use string)

5.) Borax

6.) A pot to boil water in

Directions

In a pot bring to boil approximately 5-7 cups of water. You can adjust this amount based on the size of the jar(s) you may be using. For every cup of water add 3 tbs of Borax. Stir the mixture to insure the borax is completely dissolved. Remove the mixture from the stove and carefully pour it into the jars until the jar is filled to the neck. Curl the end of a pipe cleaner around the pen you will be using. Submerge the pipe cleaner into the solution and allow the pen to hang across the mouth of the jar. You can color the solution with food coloring, though be aware it will take a reasonable amount to create colored crystals. If you decide to use string, tie one end to the pencil, and tie a washer of the other end to insure the length of the string stays submerged. You will begin to see crystals forming within hours. I like to use pipe cleaners as the crystals adhere to the pipe cleaners nicely and the pipe cleaners can be shaped into a variety of designs before being submerged. Imagine the possibilites…flowers, snowflakes, stars, spirals.

Filed under: Rainy Day Recipes on March 26th, 2007