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Early beads were made from natural materials such as shell, bone, stone, wood and glass. With the development of synthetic plastics in the late 1800s and early 1900s, manufacturers gained a material that could be molded into beads in an enormous variety of shapes and colors. Later plastics, including acrylic, made colorful beads inexpensive, lightweight and easy to mass produce—helping turn them into the familiar craft-room staple we know today.
To create a snowflake shape, twist the 3 pipe cleaners together in the center to make a 6-sided figure (picture an X with a line through the middle). Trim as needed so that the snowflake will fit easily into the mouth of the jar.
Important: Adult supervision is needed when using boiling water and Borax. Please keep the Borax out of children's reach.
Fill the jar 3/4 full with boiling water. Add 3 tablespoons of Borax for every cup of water that is used. Stir until completely dissolved. It is ok if some of the Borax settles in the bottom of the jar.
You can now add food coloring to the water to create colorful snowflakes if you like.
Tie the string to one of the ends of the snowflake and the other end of the string to the pencil. Dip the snowflake into the water making sure that the string is long enough to completely cover it with water.
Rest the pencil across the top of the jar. Check to see that the snowflake floats freely not touching the sides or bottom of the jar.
Let the jar rest, undisturbed overnight (at least 8 hrs). The result is a snowflake covered in shiny crystals!
