#28- How to Grow Your Own Crystals for Resin Geodes- On a Budget!
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- čas přidán 27. 05. 2024
- Follow along to learn how to grow your own crystals using Borax. They can be used to make resin geodes, create jewelry or just as a beautiful decorative accent for your home (See my video #27 to finish them for decorating your home). Or, make them with kids for a fun home activity!
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Materials used and where to find them:
Borax: amzn.to/2ThFsqv
Pipe cleaners: amzn.to/2U7oGYd
Food coloring: amzn.to/2BOrbr9
Jars: amzn.to/2Nuzm0q
I have included some items in value packs to get more for your money and have also created my list exclusively from internet resources to give international viewers the opportunity to use the same products. Please Note: I am now affiliated with Amazon to bring you my list of favorite products in an easy and convenient way. I receive a very small commission from your purchases if you use my links and I appreciate that so much. It helps me purchase my own resin to continue to share my videos with you! But I encourage you to shop wherever will save you the most money where you are. Thank you!
Thanks to bensound.com for the music!
Holy moly!! This blew my mind. Why haven't I ever heard of this crafting idea before ? Thank you, FR!
One more tip to add to these wonderful tips: Don't leave the jar with the leftover borax/water mixture on your art shelf above all your art supplies! The water eventually evaporates enough to start growing crystals in the bottom and up the sides of your jar and the glass cracks... all the remaining water leaks out and ruins everything next to and below it, lol! I will have to make more of these for some future geode pieces! Great tutorial video :-)
Ha ha ha! You gave me a good laugh. It's not funny and stinks but I love your humor about a bummer of a situation! Thanks for watching!
@@thefrugalresinista What else could I do but laugh... and tell the girls not to tell Daddy! Wonderful videos, pleasure to watch!
Ha ha! Thanks!
Super talented. I swear I watch your videos all day.
Wow, thank you! That is so nice of you to say!
My grandmother use to do something similar using sugar, string and boiling water.. just as nice but was a good sweet treat
My kids were just telling me that I have to do it with sugar so they can eat it. :) I'll have to try it!
Home made Rock Candy
So pretty!!
So neat. Going to get some borax today and try this with my 5 year old daughter. She is going to love this. I'm learning about the resin and making geodes with resin before I give it a go. I love art, any kind, and your videos have inspired me to want to learn a new medium with resin!! Thanks for sharing, you're so talented!!!
Thank you so much for watching! My kids definitely have a great time making crystals! Have fun!
Really amazing!!
These are so cool I gotta try them!
Fantastic process. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
That was an awesome demo.
Can't wait to make some for my geode paintings too :D
Thanks! I've heard from some people that their color is fading so I'm going to try it again with alcohol ink. Let me know how yours goes and if you use food coloring, just make sure to seal it when you are done!
I love your teaching skills. Wonderful. Thanks for sharing. I am going to try this today.
Thank you so much! Have fun!
Oh my gosh! This looks like so much FUN!! What a great thing to do with the grandkids!! 😁😁
YES! My kids love it!
That was the coolest thing I've seen now I want to make some thank you for sharing your talent with me 🎨🎨
Thank you so much for watching. Just make sure to seal them as soon as they are dry so that your color stays vibrant!
You are so incredibly helpful.Thankyou so much 🙏🏻
Thanks for watching!
That’s AWESOME!!! Thanks soooo much! Doing it!
Yay! They are fun to do! Make sure to seal them as soon as they are dry so the color stays vibrant. Thanks for watching!
That was pretty epic, Thanks. You’re channel has a big future ahead 👌🏾
Thank you so much for watching and for your encouraging words!
Good lesson. I used to do this when I was a kid. They turned out great.
Thanks for watching!
This would make a great lower grade level science project!
Ohh! Yes it would!
I made crystal growing at school once ~ can’t remember what we used to make them ~ but they never turned out anywhere near as good as these have ~ 😂 ~ you should have been the Teacher!
That is the best idea ever thank you so much for sharing it I love you Channel❤️❤️
Thank you for watching!
Just tried it... waiting right now... we’ll see!!! Thanks!!
Yay! Just make sure to seal them well!
I've always wanted to try making crystals but wasn't sure how. Now I will definitely try! Thank you so much. They are gorgeous 😍❣️❣️
Yay! Definitely try it! Just make sure to seal it very well so that the color stays put!
OMG~ FABULOUSLY FUN! I ALWAYS SAY: ADDING SPARKLES TO YOUR DAY WILL CHASE THE BLUES AWAY! I could totally see attaching one or two or... on a painting, like a Dirty Pour.
I'm excited to try this. And looking forward to seeing your other videos!
Ooohhh! I love the idea of putting it on a dirty pour. Sticking it in a geode is on my list of videos to create!
So cool.
Big smile. Thanks.
Beautiful! We did this in science class in grade school! Great idea for resin pours. I'd like to see that vid! Subscribing.
Thank you!
What a wonderful video! Keep up the good work. I think that it is a wonderful idea both for children and adults that do crafting. I know you kind of gave an example of how much to use but if you could be a little more specific in the measurements That would be so totally awesome
Awesome!!
Thanks!
Awesome! Thank you 😊
You are so welcome!
Great ideas thx so much ❤️👍🏻
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
thank you for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Amazing! I’m gonna try this! 👍🥰. Thank you!
Yay! Let me know how it goes if you get a chance. Thanks for watching!
The Frugal Resinista will do. I’m learning how to make videos for CZcams as well. I’ll get there I hope. Are you on Instagram?
I found ya and followed.
Look great
Thanks!
These crystals turn powder white over time. Don't use it in any project you want to last more than a couple of months. Glad I time tested this first before selling or gifting.
Bummer! I have had some that did great and some that didn't. I coated the ones that stayed good with a liberal coating of spray sealer.
@@thefrugalresinista Food coloring is generally fugitive, it fades in light. Let us know if you try inks or other pigments to color the crystals, so we an see the results.
@@thefrugalresinista I was thinking of using them in my counter top and they would be sealed with resin. Instead of buying all the colors. I do just put a light coat of them on the top of the space not solid.
Also, there is glow in the dark paint, water based that might be good to use.
Water based paint may hold it's color. Not so much from tubes, it has a plastic tendency to it, but the water color kind. It comes in pots and is liquid like. It doesn't have that heavy plastic like acrylic does in house paints.
If you can thin it out some. Try that and see what happens. Poster paint is what that kind is. Kids use it in school too. They make it in floresent too.
I made some 3 years ago and sealed with clear coat spray polyeurathine. They still look the same as when I made them.
@@mayerscd So do mine but I know that others have had trouble. I'm going to do the video again soon with other products and see what I come up with!
This is so cool. My fav was the unicorn 🦄 poop. Lol❤️😄
Thanks! Ha ha!
You ROCK!!!
Ha ha! Thanks!
Wow...I didn't know the crystals grew so fast... Great video!
Thanks!
The point at which the water has dissolved the borax and cannot dissolve anymore is called Saturation. Just thought I'd mention that.
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing. I have tried this put it never really came out very pretty. Now I know what I was doing wrong.
Just remember to seal it when you're done so the color stays. Thanks SO much for watching!
Cool 😎
Could you do a video to show us how you use them in the resin and the end project? Thanks. Really cool, by the way. I'm going to give this a try! Also, colored pipe cleaners co-ordinated to the color of the dye you use would keep any white from showing through the weaker crystal formations, I think.
Yes! It is actually on my list of things to video. I have done it with colored pipe cleaners before. It works great! Thanks for watching.
Thanks so much. I did snowflakes with my kids years ago but had forgotten the details. I'm looking forward to doing some with my grandkids now.
You're welcome! Have fun!
Great video!!!! Thank u. I'm going to try these. One question though can I use wide mouth jars or r the jars to remain small mouths???
I'm glad you're going to try them! Yes! I would actually use a wide mouth jar over the ones that I used. I really had to yank the white one out because it was stuck in the jar!
Can you reuse the old boraz in the glass that you used to make the first initial crystals?
Yes! Just make sure you add enough borax for crystals to form if there isn't enough in your solution.
Loved this video! Thanks for sharing. I do have a question for you, have you ever tried to make a swirled colored crystal? Or two colored crystal?
Thanks so much! I haven't tried that yet but I bet you could just fill the glass part-way with all of the supplies and then flip the crystal and stick it in a different jar to have a different (or multiple different) color growing on the other side.
After you've had in the jar and got some crystals on it can you then move it to another jar with a different color mix and have more than one color crystals on it? Or would the newly formed crystals just cover up what was already there?
That's a good question. I don't know for sure. My thought would be that it would cover the other color but I could be wrong! I'll have to try it! Thanks so much for watching!
Cool video - I was inspired to try it right away.
I used food coloring but my crystals turned out clear.
Any ideas? Thanks.
Thanks so much for watching. I added a LOT of food coloring. My jars only held about two cups of water and I added between 10 and 20 drops of food coloring to each. Maybe just add more? I'm going to try this again soon with alcohol ink and see if the color is brighter.
Can you add a link for the acrylic spray you use I would appreciate it. Thank you I was impressed they turned out so nice in a very short time.
Yep. Let me look back at it this evening to remember what I used! Also, I am going to re-create this video using some other supplies and see how it goes!
Oh WOW, so many questions (lol) Dose the color fade from food coloring, could one use alcohol ink or india ink instead or would that not work? Very cool I have to buy some borax and try this soon!!! Super cool thanks for sharing this project!
The color does fade unless you seal it as soon as it is dry. The green finished one that I show at the beginning of the video was sealed and held its color. I haven't tried alcohol or india ink. Try it! Maybe I will too. Sounds intriguing!
I added alcohol inks and they worked really well. I want to try fabric dye next. :)
These are so great. Do you think you can use the tiny pom poms and make Christmas ornaments out of them?
Ooohhh! That would be neat! You would just need to seal it REALLY well if you weren't going to put it in resin. Otherwise it will get powdery and the color will fade. Try it!
What a great idea! You are my new favorite subscription on CZcams! Question - Can you break the crystals off the pipe cleaners and use them? Or do they disintegrate too much if you separate them from the pipe cleaners? Thanks so much for sharing this!
Oh my goodness. That is so nice of you to say. You can break them off. If you try to smash them up too much so that they are tiny, they will lose their shine and become powdery. I tend to do more breaking larger chunks off and then cutting the pipe cleaners they are stuck to with wire cutters as they separate. Then I still have bigger shiny chunks to use. Just make sure that you seal them well so that their color stays vibrant.
Hi, I am looking around for the post you mentioned where you finished the back of your geodes. I can’t seem to find it. Can you point me in the right direction? Thanks.
Here you go!... czcams.com/video/06ON3seSd_k/video.html
This was a very informative, well done video and I love the outcome. Subscribed and thumbs upped ❤😘🤗
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me! I've been following your channel for a while now and your art is beautiful.
@@thefrugalresinista oh that is so awesome to hear. I will definitely give your channel a shoutout when I give this a try. They are so beautiful❤😘🤗
Thank you so much!
thanks
Thank you for watching!
Love the hello video gravy information well done that maybe just leave the words on the screen a little bit longer so that we can read it all I would get about halfway done and an become so love the video
Thanks for the tip!
@@thefrugalresinista Brenda I can't speed read either, but just stop the video to read everything. Just saying.
I absolutely love these. But I was wandering if you could you use clothing dye to color?
Thanks. I bet you could! That would probably give you brighter colors too!
@@thefrugalresinista Awesome thank you so much. Will try.
If you're doing this with kids, I would suggest that you have them wear glasses and gloves. You can also unclog drains with borax...
you can also eat borax.. its just a simple mineral that is mined in California and Turkey, and is necessary for optimal health. It's not toxic at all. It doesn't unclog drains like Lye does... it works with soap to remove fats and oils that can clog drains or cause ring around the tub.
My granddaughter will love doing this. She is a geode fan. please tell me what kind of food coloring you used. lately I have only been able to find gel food colors in not so nice shades.
I hope she has fun! I did find a pack of liquid food coloring. I'm not sure it would work with the gel. This is the set I have... amzn.to/2U3nJjH
Can I use opaque colour or alcohol ink instead of food colour ?
Can these be crushed like glitter or will it lose its sparkle?
so the color stays vibrant with sealing? Can I then do anything with them or is putting it in resin the way to go? Thanks for this video I learned more. Yes my colors faded and I gave up. Ì thought why do this. My nephew will love this. I just subscribed. Ì usually pass them over cos mine never worked but now I know! 👍🏾
They stay a lot better if you seal them. You can also use a colored pipe cleaner the same color that you are dyeing them to add to the color effect.
cool amazing stones! will mica powders or acrylic colour paints works instead of food colours ?
what are other options to use in place of pipe cleaners if not available ? pls reply. this is good video.thanks.
Thanks for watching! I am actually getting ready to try this experiment again using a bunch of different products. I hadn't thought of mica powders. I will add that to the list!
@@thefrugalresinista and what about the pipe cleaners - any other options ? Coz I don't have this
I don't know yet. I'm getting ready to do the whole thing over with some different ingredients so I'll add that to the list to try!
@@thefrugalresinista okay. Great. I will look forward to it. And somewhere in CZcams they did with sugar.....
I noticed on mine that the crystals grew on the dental floss as well so I would think that anything that won't disintegrate in water should work.
I would love to try this but I’m in the uk and can’t get borax. Is there anything else I could use?
I know that you can grow them with Alum powder, Epsom salt and sugar. The sugar ones would be rock candy. I haven't done any of them but it would be fun to experiment and see if they work in resin! There are CZcams tutorials for doing it with each of these. Maybe they would help? Bummer that you can't get Borax!
@what sealant do you use ? like a spray shellac ? or varnish ? Aren't they fun to Make !!! my next one im hoping to make a large one, i just have to find something big enough to hold all the liquid and yes the Grand children love making them to !!!
They are fun! Yes, I use a spray sealer and give them two or three coats.
I have to spend extra time soaking my container with hot water to get rid of the crystals that grew on the sides and the bottom. Do you go through this too?
Is it necessary to use glass jars???
Hi can i use boric acid instead of boric powder, or is that a complete no no. Im trying to get a hold of borax im in india.
i love watching ur videos. Its awesome of you to share your creations.
I am so sorry but I don't know. I am going to try it again soon with some other ingredients so maybe they will be available to you?
Thank you so much for sharing this video...one question what is borax? Is there any alternative?
Thank you for watching! Borax is just a type of non-toxic soap base. People use it for making their own laundry detergent and dish soap. I know there are some other alternatives but they cost more so I have yet to try them. Here's the borax. It is pretty cheap and you get a LOT. Some grocery stores will also sell it, but not all. You could look for it with the household cleaners.
amzn.to/2tGcWQY
The Frugal Resinista some countries don't sell Borax.
Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid.
Hello, please tell me, how long can crystals last ?? not destroyed? how much they can be stored so if I give it and they will dissolve after a week.
Thank you for watching! If you want them to last a while, you will need to seal them as soon as they are dry. They can be sealed with resin or a thick layer of spray sealer.
Actually, I like the ones that u messed up on! LOL
Great! Ha ha. Thanks for watching!
Me too !!
please link the work on the thumbnail for the green geode. its really pretty. thanks!!!!!
Thanks for watching. Sorry! I don't have a video for that one. It was the first large geode that I did and I wasn't making videos at the time. I can add it to my list of videos though! I'm slowly working through requests that people have for me.
These may sound like a kind of stupid questions, but, I've never tried making my own crystals before, so, I'm wanting to know about all of this. Would it be "feasible" to use a widemouth, quart - sized Mason jar so that the "geodes" would come out easier should they get big? Or, is the small jar somehow "required" to actually be able to *make* the geode crystals? Also, is it possible to put *too much" food coloring in the water mixture as to where crystals won't form? Thank you for answering my questions if you can.
I don't know about putting too much food coloring in but you can absolutely use a bigger container as long as it can hold boiling water!
The Frugal Resinista Thank you for your information and quick reply.
You can put these in resins and they won't break down? That would be my reason for trying this again!
So far I have had them hold up. I'm going to do a tutorial putting some of mine into a geode soon.
@@thefrugalresinista I'll have to watch for that, sounds great!
Absolutely lovely. Can you provide written instructions on how to make, since I couldn’t hear due to hearing loss. Stunning!
Thank you so much for watching! Let me do my best... 1. Boil the water. 2. As soon as you finish boiling (while the water is really hot), add food coloring and mix Borax in until there is too much of it to dissolve and you can see some staying on the bottom. 3. Add your pipe cleaner as shown in the video (or whatever you are having the crystals grow on) Make sure the pipe cleaner is not touching the sides or bottom of the container. 4. Let sit for at least 8 hours. If you want the crystals to be bigger after 8 hours, you can take them out, re-boil the water, add more Borax and stick them back in and wait another 8 hours. 5. Seal them! Use a spray sealer or one that you paint on or the color will fade and the crystals will get powdery... Hope that helps! I'm actually getting ready to do another crystal video using other supplies. It should be done some time this week!
This video also has captions. Turn on the closed captions by hitting the CC button on the bottom right of the video.
unfortunatly i can't buy borax :( i's forbiden in europe since fe years , they say that's can be very toxic...don't know what to think about that.
So if you spray them, they will hold up in resin???
They seem to so far. I do spray with multiple coats just in case.
How much food coloring you put in each one?
I added about 10 drops to each jar.
@@thefrugalresinista thank you
I finally made these last night. The instructions were difficult when you say to add Borax until no more will dissolve...I wound up with some on the bottom. (I now understand the instructions better!) But my crystals are stuck to the bottom of my glasses. ACK! Help - what do I do now? (And they. Are. STUCK.)
Oh no! I've totally done that before! You just have to really yank them out and let them break a bit but you can put them back in and grow more over the break.
@@thefrugalresinista And that is why you are my new BFF! Thank you so much! 💕
Ha! Good luck!
Can food coloring be used?
That is what I used. You just have to seal the crystals with something as soon as they dry or the color really fades.
I have tried this and with salt, I am not getting crystals. Any idea what I need to do get crystals?
I don't know. Sorry. I haven't tried salt yet. I'm getting ready to do another crystal video with different substances. I can try salt and see!
@@thefrugalresinista let me know please so I can check it out. Thank you!
I would really like to try this. I do have a question and someone may have already asked and I missed it. When they are finished and you don’t want to use the whole thing, do you break the pieces off? I know that sounds simple but I get a little nervous when trying new things. BTW I absolutely love your tutorials. Thank you taking the time to teach others how to create the beautiful work that you do. I know I greatly appreciate it.
You can. It doesn't involve smashing them up as much as gently bending until they break (they are strong!) and then using small wire cutters to get the pipe cleaner apart in between your pieces. The one thing to watch is that you will need to seal all the new edges right away. When sealed, these look beautiful. But if you don't, they lose color fast! If you try to do more of a smash than a break, you will create a lot of disappointing borax powder.
The Frugal Resinista Ok thank you so much.
Can you reuse the leftover liquid to make more?
Yes! Make sure that you add more Borax but in terms of color, you should be good.
after many days it shows with white shades small peaces why?
Did you coat them with anything at the end. If they sit for days uncoated, they will get powdery.
Did you already used this in one of yor videos?
Not yet. I was trying to see how big I could grow the crystals and made them too fat. Ha ha ha! But I'm getting ready to do another crystal tutorial and will use those for a resin piece. Thanks for watching!
I am really excited about this! Have you tried any other ways of tinting the crystals? For instance, I want to make pink and its very challenging with standard food colors-the red has too much orange in it. Could you use high flow acrylic inks to tint the solution?
I haven't yet but just picked up some alcohol inks to try it again. We'll see what happens!
have you tried holographic pigment
Oh my gosh! NO! Now I have to try it!
@@thefrugalresinista that would be awesome
@@thefrugalresinista just a question do you have to use glass when doing the crystals
Nope! No glass is involved in this. The crystals are the borax in a new form than when it started as powder.
The Frugal Resinista PLEASE do this right away!! Lol!!! Soooo much fun!!
I would love to use these in my jewelry. Are these considered genuine crystals or man made? Thanks for sharing your videos
These are great in jewelry! I actually don't know if they are considered genuine or not. Sorry!
Manmade. Genuine crystals come from many, many years of NATURE.
So I've done this method before and I find that any crystals I make come out looking great! And then a few days later they go all chalky and dry and start to get a white film over the surface. Do you know of a way to keep this from happening or do I need to be sealing the crystals as soon as they're dry or....?
I use the spray that I show at the end of my video and it seems to keep them looking shiny and nice. The green crystal that I show at the beginning was sprayed with it and seems to be holding up well. Hope that helps!
Hi all .can you use the same contents again if you boil the fluid again .🙏🏻
Yes! Boil the water again and add more Borax. The color can be used over and over.
Dang all I have are black pipe cleaners.
Maybe find some light colored yarn?
we can see how you are doing them
Borax is Not allowed in my Country.... :*(
Bummer! I've heard that from a few people. I'm going to do another crystal video soon that uses other ingredients. Maybe that will help!
@@thefrugalresinista that would be awsome :D maybe another option could be sugar?!
Would it not work to put those imperfect pieces back into a borax mixture & grow another layer of Crystal's on it?
Yes! You definitely could!
Are these safe to sell I'm selling real geodes,crystals,and druzy but this seems convenient in just worried how they will be after a year if someone buys it from me
Well, I would say yes but I know that some people who have tried it have had the color fade. I'm getting ready to do another video and compare different ingredients and see what works best.
Thanks I look forward to it!
If you do sell these make sure you disclose that they are faux crystals or you could be sued by someone who's looking to make easy money!!
Yes it is natural, but it is also toxic and caustic.
You could eat small quantities of borax its actually good for your bones
At extreme quantities when mixed wrong. I make home made soap and mix borax water without gloves with no problems. It also isn't that caustic if it was it wouldn't mix right for soap.
Be aware all resin yellows over time.
You don’t give us time to read!