I made Rose Quartz crystals and I still can’t believe it! This DIY project is easier than it looks. The idea came from the need for Rose Quartz for a work project relating to Pantone Colour of the year Rose Quartz. I really didn’t want to pay lots of money for real Rose Quartz from the rock and gem store and I really didn’t like the look of the fake ones from the big box home decor stores because they were usually over saturated with neon pink dye or just weren’t the right colour.
This project takes about 20 minutes to make and another 6-10 hours of waiting time.
I initially found this project through fellow Canadian blogger Dans Le Lakehouse when she made beautiful turquoise crystals last year and while searching for more tutorials I found a youtube video from Emmy Made that walks you through the steps. So I recommend visiting those links for another perspective and more detailed instructions.
Supplies needed:
Borax – you can find this in the detergent aisle at your grocery store, it’s likely on the bottom shelf
Food colouring
White string
White pipe cleaners
Water
Medium saucepan
Measuring cup
Plastic or hot water proof container
Pencil or wooden skewer
Directions:
Take your white pipe cleaners and weave them together to make a random somewhat round shape, this will be the skeleton for your crystals to grow on. Take a piece of white string and tie it to one end of your web structure. Take a pencil or chopstick and hang your web from it.
Boil about about 1 litre of water in a medium sauce pan. Once the water is boiling, add 2 cups or more of Borax, this is the key step, keep adding in borax until it no longer dissolves in the water, I kind of lost track of the actual amount, you can’t go wrong, just use lots! The more the better and bigger your crystals will be. It’s really important to have a really well condensed mixture. Make sure the water gets back to a boil. Add the food colouring, I used 10 drops of pink and 2 drops of purple. It will look really dark in the water, but the crystal will be much lighter (trust me). This is also something you can play around with as you make them.
Grab your heat safe container, make sure it’s actually heat safe, I made the mistake of pouring boiling hot water into a container that I thought could handle really hot water and it basically exploded from the shock of hot water (whoops!) For my second attempt I used a plastic yogurt container and it seemed to be okay. But as you can see in the links above they use a quality glass Pyrex beaker made for heat, so if you have one I’d say use that! The downside to using a plastic container is that the cooling process happens a lot faster so the crystals don’t get a longer chance to “grow”, as far as I know having a slower cooling process is better, but as you can see from my photos, they worked out!
Pour your boiling Borax mixture into your heat safe container. Take your pipe cleaner structure and immediately place into the hot liquid, dipping once or twice to remove air bubbles and then submerge completely and let it hang in the centre of the container from a pencil or skewer without it touching the bottom.
Let it sit undisturbed for 6-10 hours. Make sure it’s located in a warm spot away from drafts so it can cool slowly.
Mine were formed in about 6 hours. The size of the crystals will depend on how much Borax you’ve put into your water and how hot your water is and how quickly the liquid cools.
Have fun with it, experiment with colours and shapes!
Hi!
Are these crystals safe to get wet or will they dissolve if wet? Once they’re done forming?
Hi Sherri
They will indeed dissolve if they get wet. Thanks for asking!
Well I’m not sure because I haven’t tried yet but epoxy, or modge podge could make more permanent. I think…
I did this for a science fair project and they turned out better than I expected. I used red food coloring instead of pink (cause I didn’t have any) and it still turned out pink. It was very fun. And I am using them for a Sweet Sixteen party decoration as well.
That’s so cool to hear! If you happen to share them on twitter or instagram please tag me @visualheart I’d love to see!
Will this solution ruin the pot I use?
Hi Elle
Use a stainless steel pot and you’re fine, Borax is a cleaning solution. Have fun!
Are you able to break these into smaller pieces to make jewellery?
Thanks
I wish I had an answer. They do crumble quite a bit if you move them and bump them aggressively so I don’t think they’d be ideal for jewellery. But that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment, just be safe and work in a well-ventilated location.
Can u take pic of ur pipe cleaner skeleton & post it plz.
Hi Kay
I no longer have those supplies as this post was from a while ago. All you have to do is twist a few pipe cleaners together and loosely create a shape, there’s no right or wrong way to do it. It’s all about experimenting. I found that the looser the weave the better it worked, but it all depends on how concentrated your mixture is. Have fun with it.
This is a really old post, but I bet you could cost smaller ones on epoxy resin for jewelry. Since you usually incase whatever you want to use to make resin jewelry.
Do you have any idea about how long these last? I’d like to make some as decor for my living room.. Maybe placed under glass cloches, or in large cork-sealed jars. They just look too pretty not to display. ^_^
Thank you in advance. ^_^
Hi Akiko, thanks for checking out my post. I’d say these last forever as long as you don’t get them wet or move them around too much. I found them pretty fragile, so if you’d keep them under a glass cloche I’d say you’d be fine! The supplies needed are pretty cheap so if they break eventually don’t be sad, because you can always make more!
Hi!
How did you dipsose of your solution once you had made the crystals?
Hi Quinn, It’s just borax, a common cleaning solution, it’s fine to flush down the toilet, in fact, it’s great for cleaning the toilet, read on the box to confirm, it’s what people use to make soap and laundry detergent. I scooped out any large pieces and put those in the garbage and then poured the cooled down liquid down the drain or toilet.
This looks super pretty. I can’t wait to try it out. Thanks for the idea. Super Excited :):):):)
hi! these are not rose quartz, or any kind of quartz. these are pink borax. quartz is a specific mineral. your title is misleading.
Hi Terry, sorry that you’re disappointed, but the title is the way it is because rose quartz is very popular right now and I thought it would be fun for someone to create their own crystals using borax and achieve the same look on a minimal budget. Happy crafting!
Dude, it is OBVIOUS that this is NOT any quartz… How is a person going to teach people how to MAKE a mineral that takes centuries to form???? I think the title is alright, it is obvious that it is not the real thing!!!!!
haha thanks for the funny reply MontyCora, yes it’s a fun craft project to get “quartz” on a budget and have some fun creating interesting shapes. Definately NOT real quartz. Thanks for reading.
I totally agree with you!!
Can you tell me please if these crystals are able to go in the garden . I would like to use some on tree stump fairy house i thoroughly enjoyed making them very very cool
Hi Cynthia,
I have a feeling they would not hold up outside because as soon as the crystal gets wet it will slowly dissolve because it’s made from borax soap. You could attempt to seal it with an acrylic clear glaze purchased from your local art supply shop. Thanks for reading.
Thanx for the input I will try the glaze
Do you think these would hold up enough to encase in a polymer? I would like to make a worry stone by making one of these in a small size and enveloping it into a polymer making a clear outer casing for it.
Hi Kelly
Interesting question, as I’m not too sure how polymer would react with the borax mixture (it could have a bad chemical reaction), I do not recommend doing this. But if you are bold enough to try it, please be safe, do it outside on a hard surface away from flammable objects and have water nearby in case you need to wash anything urgently. I found that over time the “crystals” started to crumble off like a cookie, but it mostly held together. Thanks for reading!
Hi,
These are great examples of borax crystals, i love it.Good job.
I want to ask you that is there any way to protect the crystals from water or harmful things because i don’t want them to dissolve or change.
Can we apply the epoxy all over it?
Thanks.
Hi Rabia,
Thanks for reading! I haven’t experimented with sealing the exterior of the crystals. I don’t think I’d apply an epoxy because I’m not sure if there could be a dangerous chemical reaction. You could try clear acrylic that you can find at the art store, test it on a small crystal and see how it holds up? Please make sure to do it in a well ventilated area and protect the table surface you’re working on. Good luck!
I am a crystal fanatic, healer and well just absolutely love to work them, and I also love this post, OK its not real rose quartz but its a great project to make anyway. I used to love those chemistry sets you could get back in the 80’s, (showing my age now ?) lots of fun and great projects to do with your mini humans too,( just dont let then near the hot water)not that anyone one be that silly…… But you still have to be caucious.
Im definitely getting my borax chemistry on, may add a little glitter to make it sparkle….. The possibilities are endless lol
Thanks for sharing
You could try wrapping it with clingfilm to stop the elements actually touching each other?
What about clear nail varnish to act as a sealant. This would extend the life of the gemstone – hopefully – don’t know if there would be a reaction or not
I can’t give advice on this, I would avoid mixing chemicals since there could be a reaction. It’s not a real gemstone, it’s more of a home decor item that’s temporary and trendy. Have fun experimenting, just be safe!
I need the exact amount of borax!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t have exact measurements, you just add borax to the water until it stops dissolving. I mention a rough amount of cups in the post. Please read it. It’s not an exact science, play around with it and try different amounts for large crystals or smaller. Good luck!
How & when do u shape
Hi Carolyn
Follow the directions in the post and check out the videos I linked to in the post too. It will show you how to shape. The shapes comes from the way you weave the pipe cleaners together.
Do these actually work? Thanks a lot! I’m just curious, and is there anything I can use to replace white string? And if not where can I buy it, maybe Walmart? And what is white string anyways?
Thanks a lot!!!!
Hi Angel, check out the links in my post, they will show instructions in more detail. You don’t need white string, just some kind of string to suspend the pipe cleaners in the container. Please click the links in the post to see other instructions.
Thank you so much, Nicole! I love these. I just have one question: Is it possible to use something else other than borax? I don’t have those and I really, really want to make these rose quartz! They just look so pretty. Thanks
Hi Hallie,
Thanks so much for checking out my post. Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer. I’d be careful what you mix together because of bad chemical reactions. This recipe is safe and best to stick with these ingredients. Borax should be easy to find, it’s just in the laundry aisle at your local grocery or drug store in a box. Hope you’re able to find some soon. Good luck!
Do you have a picture of the pipe cleaners b4 submerging them? I kinds confused about how many and how to hang them.
Hi Patti,
Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo. But try to imagine it like creating a skeleton for the crystals to form on. I did a few experiments before getting beautiful results. Fewer pipe cleaners, more pipe cleaners woven together and also experimented with how much water to borax I used as well as the colours. It’s basically a science experiment, have fun!
Try the recipe for rock candy, similar result with no toxic chemical reaction if you preserve in an epoxy solution
Once you have made the crystals, what/how do you use them (other than jewelry that will crumble)?
Hi Rose, this is a craft project so it’s a fun experiment and you can use the end result for decoration.
Is there any alternative to pipecleaners or does it cave to be pipecleaners? These crystals look great but i have no current access to pipecleaners.
Unfortunately, I’m not too sure as I haven’t tried anything else. Join your local Buy Nothing Group and ask if someone has pipe cleaners you could have?