How to Frost Pine Cones with Borax

Borax should always be used carefully. It is considered an irritant and should not be consumed by pets or small children. If your child ingests Borax, call Poison Control or to take them to the hospital.

For the purposes of frosting pine cones and other fun experiments, Borax works as a perfect additive. You may want to wear gloves to avoid direct contact with your skin!

• A Pack of Pine Cones: Pick these up at your local grocery store near the holidays, scented or unscented. It’s up to you!
• Jar or Bowl: Pick these up at your local grocery store near the holidays, scented or unscented. It’s up to you!
• Rock or Weight: You will need a small rock or other heavy item to weight down the pine cone so it rests below the surface of the water.
• Water: You will need to fill your container with water to grow the crystals
• 20 Mule Team Borax: This is the active ingredient that will grow the crystals
• Hook and Wire (optional): If you’d like to hang your crystal pine cone on your Christmas tree, be sure to get a hook and wire to suspend your creation!
• Food Coloring (optional): Use food coloring if you want to turn your pine cones into colorful creations, you can choose whichever color you’d like!

1. Heat Water
Start off by heating the water to boiling point either in the jar and the microwave or by heating in a pot on the stove.

2. Stir in Mixture
Add your Borax solution to the water in the jar a spoonful at a time. The Borax should dissolve fairly quickly in the hot water, so be sure to continue stirring the solution until the Borax stops dissolving. You can also add food coloring at this point if you want your crystals to be a color other than white.

3. Filter out Material
Once the Borax has stopped dissolving, you should filter out any excess material left in the jar that might inhibit crystal growth. Use a paper towel or other small strainer to filter out any remaining Borax material.

4. Place Pine Cone in Jar
Attach a hook and string to the pine cone and slowly place the pine cone in the jar. The pine cone will want to float so try to set a rock or other sort of weight on top of it to prevent it from breaching the surface.

5. Check on Pine Cone
After about an hour, the pine cone should become waterlogged and you will be able to remove the weight from the top. Be sure the pine cone avoids any contact with the surface of the jar to maximize crystal growth.

6. Let Crystals Grow
Leave the pine cone overnight or for several hours in the jar, the longer you give, the more crystals you’ll receive!