CraftPals
Shining Star
Posted by Barbara on November 04,
Hi everyone! I found this ornament and it's really great &
easy. I made 5 today. I hope you like them.
Here are the ingredients & directions:
All you need is:
widemouthed jar
water
borax (available at grocery stores)
food coloring
chenille stems/pipe cleaners
string
a pencil.
Fill the jar with boiling water (adults only) or heat water in a plastic
quart container by microwaving it for 5 or 6 minutes.
Mix borax into the heated water, a tablespoon at a time
(about 3 tablespoons per cup of water), until you notice powder
settling on the bottom of the jar. Stir in food coloring to create a
dark tint.
Next, bend a chenille stem/pipe cleaner into a star.
Tie one end of the string to the star and the other end around the pencil.
Rest the pencil on the jar rim so that your chenille stem/pipe cleaner is
suspended in the solution. Set aside overnight.
As the water cools and evaporates, borax molecules will stack together.
By morning, the star will be covered with glittery crystals.
Remove it from the jar; let it drip dry. Then, hang it up for a
decorative sun catcher or use a few to make a mobile.
MY NOTE: Make sure there is plenty of room in the opening of the jar
to let you remove the ornament in the morning. They grow pretty thick.
(I made a Heart ornament & a snowflake ornament. I bent the pipe cleaners
around cookie cutters. Then I shaped some pipe cleaners into my 2
granddaughters' initials for their first names. I give them a new
ornament every year-so I'll decorate the initials & give them to
the girls to hang on their tree.)