Face it, crystals are cool. Plus they work nicely into the whole holiday/winter/snowflake-y theme. You could use a few new decorations and out smarting your kids for once might lift your spirits a bit seeing that you've been pretty down about spending all that cash on the holidays.
Why not amaze the kids, flaunt your knowledge of six-sided hexagonal shapes and sparkle up the joint a bit for the holidays..whichever they may be...with a few Borax crystal decorations?This old time-y project is fun for the whole family.
Please note that this project uses Borax, a common household cleaner/chemical and can be harmful if ingested particularly by the little ones. Use constant supervision and do not allow children to touch, eat or inhale Borax. This is based on a pretty common grade school science experiment about the properties of crystals. Here is more information about the chemical properties of Borax:
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/~hmc/hsci/chemicals/borax.html
Why not amaze the kids, flaunt your knowledge of six-sided hexagonal shapes and sparkle up the joint a bit for the holidays..whichever they may be...with a few Borax crystal decorations?This old time-y project is fun for the whole family.
Please note that this project uses Borax, a common household cleaner/chemical and can be harmful if ingested particularly by the little ones. Use constant supervision and do not allow children to touch, eat or inhale Borax. This is based on a pretty common grade school science experiment about the properties of crystals. Here is more information about the chemical properties of Borax:
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/~hmc/hsci/chemicals/borax.html
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Signing UpStep 1: Gather necessary materials
To make these awesome crystal decorations you need a few items most, if not all, of which you have around your house.
You'll need:
1 large-ish empty recycled glass jar with a preferably wide mouth (I like to use glass peanut butter jars because they tend to have large openings and we just seem to have an over abundant supply of them given our PB & J addiction)
Large pipe cleaners or as they are sometimes fancifully called "chenille stems" (I prefer single colored stems because they add a nice pop of pigment to the crystals)
Borax (20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster). If you're having a hard time finding Borax I recommend checking your grandparent's laundry room or go to the detergent aisle of your local AARP grocery shopping hot-spot and you're sure to locate a box.
1 Tablespoon measuring spoon
1 spoon for stirring
Boiling hot water
Pencil
String (we like embroidery floss or twine but even unused dental floss works)
Newspaper
You'll need:
1 large-ish empty recycled glass jar with a preferably wide mouth (I like to use glass peanut butter jars because they tend to have large openings and we just seem to have an over abundant supply of them given our PB & J addiction)
Large pipe cleaners or as they are sometimes fancifully called "chenille stems" (I prefer single colored stems because they add a nice pop of pigment to the crystals)
Borax (20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster). If you're having a hard time finding Borax I recommend checking your grandparent's laundry room or go to the detergent aisle of your local AARP grocery shopping hot-spot and you're sure to locate a box.
1 Tablespoon measuring spoon
1 spoon for stirring
Boiling hot water
Pencil
String (we like embroidery floss or twine but even unused dental floss works)
Newspaper
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Could you do this with, for example, table salt, or even sugar? That way you know kids won't eat enough to kill themselves with!
Colored Fire
I made some for Halloween! Thanks for the 'ibile!
Any thoughts?
I did this with my After School Group (aged 4-12) , it was their gift for their parents. At first I had them made inside jars but the kids pipecleaner shapes (i let them create their own) were to wide so I ended up cutting a 2L milk catrton in half, which worked much better.
Some observations the kids & I made:
> the fuzzier the pipecleaner the more crystals stuck.
> we used about 7-8 Tbsp. of Borax in the milk container
> wearing vinyl gloves feels weird, wearing safety glasses is "right awsome"
> a tree shape, candycane shape, snowflake shape grew the most crystals
> do not let the water cool before stirring in the borax, reboil the water
We will probablly do this again to see what the crystals will & will not grow on!
Thanx for this amazing project!!!
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/~hmc/hsci/chemicals/borax.html
.
. Nice iBle.
this will give you some idea. as a bath or face product the amount used would be at much less strength than the concentrated crystal forming brew. it is good for garden issues -in deficient soils cabbages split open, too much and plants die! the disposal of the crystal brew should be considered too. that volume would do to apply to a football ground, as a watered down application.I would add hot water to that remnant, dilute that volume by say 1gallon and then add a fair bit of honey! it would supply you and 2 neighbours with a years ant killer:-)
hope this sheds some light, the dose makes the poison!
http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/SO/sodium_tetraborate_decahydrate.html
Why are these natural body care books recommending this? Then again a lot of things are fine except when you are pregnant, and those lists are very thourough. Idk...
I don't see a problem with this project though, as long as no one eats them.
Instead of ant killer you could use the leftovers in your laundry. Just add a few teaspoons per load. Apparently it keeps the soap from sticking to anything and so leaves your clothes(or skin in some recipes) cleaner. I use it in my laundry sometimes and it seems to work well.