Making Awesome Crystals

Introduction

Do you want a real crystal

pipe cleaner? Well, now you can have one, two or three. You can have as many as

you want, just follow these easy steps.

You will need…

Wide mouth jar (or large measuring cup)

Three pipe cleaners

Scissors

Pencil

Kettle for boiling water (have an adult do this part)

A tablespoon

Borax

Step 1

Cut two, three inch pieces off of a

pipe cleaner. Leave one long. Take the two small pieces and wrap it around the

long piece to make this spiky figure of a snowflake.

 Step 2

To make the next figure to

crystallize, wrap a pipe cleaner around a pencil. Take it off and stretch it

out a little (as shown in the picture with the red pipe cleaner).

Step 3

There is one more figure you can

make. I made a 3D diamond, but you can use your imagination and make any shape

you want out of a pipe cleaner.

Step 4

Wrap the stem of the pipe cleaners

around the pencil so they hang without touching each other, and two inches from

the pencil.

 Step 5

Pour the boiling water into the

wide mouthed jar (get an adult to do this).

Stir in three tablespoons of Borax for every cup of water. Stir until

most of the Borax has dissolved, but it is okay if there are a few clumps left.

Step 6

Put the pipe cleaners in the water. Do not let them touch the sides or the bottom of the jar, or each other. Leave them hanging there overnight.

Conclusion

You are now finished your crystallized

pipe cleaners. Take them off the pencil. Now you have a choice of cutting the

stem off, or leaving it on if you want a hanging decoration. Hang them by a window, and watch them sparkle in the sun!