We made Snowflakes!

And they weren’t the paper kind!

Check these out:

Someone had posted “snowflakes” like this on one of the Daycare Facebook pages I belong to, along with instructions on how to make them….so I “borrowed” a box of Borax soap from one of my daycare families and followed the instructions and voila!

It was pretty easy, but here’s what I learned in the process…..

– However you plan to hang the snowflake after it’s finished…..better put that ‘hook’ on from the start!

– The hotter the water mixture the better….and the faster you can cool it the better (put it in the fridge!)

– The cup needs to be completely CLEAN

– The borax needs to be completely DISSOLVED

Other than that…..it’s pretty easy!

Here’s the how to:

The first step of making borax crystal snowflakes is to make the snowflake shape itself. Cut a pipe cleaner into three equal sections about 4″ long.
Twist the sections together at their centers to form a six-sided snowflake shape. Don’t worry if an end isn’t even, just trim to get the desired shape. The snowflake should fit inside the jar….double check that!!
Tie string to the end of one of the snowflake arms. Tie the other end of the string to the pencil. You want the length to be such that the pencil hangs the snowflake into the jar.
Fill the widemouth pint jar with boiling water. IOr in my case I used Solo cups!)
Add borax one tablespoon at a time to the boiling water, stirring to dissolve after each addition. The amount used is 3 tablespoons borax per cup of water. Thoroughly dissolve the borax.
If desired, you may tint the mixture with food color.
Hang the pipe cleaner snowflake into the jar so that the pencil rests on top of the jar and the snowflake is completely covered with liquid and hangs freely (not touching the bottom or sides of the jar).
Allow the jar to sit in an undisturbed location overnight. (Preferably a very cold location- like the fridge!)
The next day….look at the pretty crystals!!!