How to Craft Crystals

Crystals are composed of atoms, molecules, or ions arranged in a highly ordered pattern with a recognizable geometric structure. When water is combined with a crystal base such as alum, salt or sugar, crystals will form within a few hours. Read the article below to learn how to make crystals, make crystal ornaments and colorful crystal candies.

Table of Contents

Crafting Crystals with Alum

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Fill the jar half full with warm water. You should clean the vial clean, otherwise impurities will damage the crystal structure. You can use the transparent jar to observe the crystal forming process.

Stir alum. Add a few tablespoons of alum to the jar and stir the solution with a spoon until the alum dissolves. Add alum to the water and keep stirring. You only stop when the alum is saturated in the water. Let the mixture rest for a few hours. As the water begins to evaporate, crystals will form at the bottom of the jar.

Alum is a mineral used to salt cucumbers and other vegetables. You can find alum at the grocery store.
The telltale sign of saturated alum in water is when they begin to accumulate at the bottom of the jar.

Crystal seed extract. Choose large, beautifully shaped crystals to harvest. Then, pour the liquid into a clean jar (don’t let alum saturate the new jar) and use tweezers to pick up the crystal beads lying on the bottom.

If the crystal is not large enough, you should wait a few more hours before harvesting the crystal.
If you want to continue crafting the crystal in the first jar, you can let it sit for a week or so. At that point the bottom and sides of the jar will be covered with crystals.

Use thin nylon string or dental floss to tie around the crystal and dip into the new vial. Fasten to the crystal, then tie the other end to the pencil body. Leave the pencil on the rim of the second vial and dip the crystal into the solution.

Wait for the crystal to form. When crystals appear in the desired shape and size, you can remove them from the water. Untie the leash and enjoy your work.

Crafting Crystal Ornaments

Mix a solution of water and alum. Fill the jar to half full with water, then add a few tablespoons of alum to the water. Continue adding alum until saturated.

You can replace alum with salt or borax.
If you want to make decorations with different colors, you can divide the solution into several jars.

Pour the coloring into the jar. Add a few drops of red, blue, yellow, green, or other color to the solution. If you divide up several vials of the solution, you can add one color to each vial.

Mix multiple food colors to create unique colors. For example, you can combine 4 drops of yellow with one drop of blue to make light blue, or mix red and blue to make purple.
For festive decorations, you should choose colors that match the main colors of that festival.

Bend the piece of plastic pipe into a decorative shape. It could be a tree, star, snowflake, pumpkin, or other shape you want to make. You need to create a clear and recognizable shape, and remember that the crystal will stick to the wall of the tube. So the border of the shape will thicken.

Hook the tube over the side of the jar. Dip the shape of each tube into the vial to secure it in the center, without touching the side or bottom of the vial. Hook the other end onto the rim of the vial, bending to secure the tube.

If you are mixing more than one color into the solution, you should choose a color that matches the shape of the tube. For example, if you are crafting a tree, you should dip the tube in the green solution.
If you are dipping more than one tube into one vial, you should hold it firmly so that they do not touch each other.

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Wait for the crystal to form. You need to leave the tube in place in the vial for a week or two, until the crystal has formed to the desired size. Once you’re satisfied, you can take the crystal ornament out of the jar. Blot dry with a paper towel. Now you can hang them up to decorate your home.

Making Crystal Candy

Make a solution of water and sugar. To make candy, you should use sugar as the base of the crystal instead of using alum or salt. Fill the jar halfway with warm water and stir the sugar until saturated.

The most common type of sugar to use is granulated sugar, but you can experiment with brown sugar, raw sugar, and other sugars.
Do not use artificial sweeteners in place of sugar.

Add color and flavor. You can make the candy more appealing by adding a few drops of food coloring and natural flavoring to the solution. Try different flavor and color combinations, or apply your own recipe:

Red food with cinnamon flavor.
Yellow food with lemon flavor.
Green food with mint flavor.
Blue color with raspberry flavor.

Dip wooden chopsticks in the solution. Place a few wooden chopsticks in the jar and rest it against the side of the jar. If you don’t have chopsticks, you can use wooden skewers or sticks.

Use a plastic bag to cover the jar. Because the solution contains sugar, it will attract ants while the crystal is forming. You should cover the jar with a plastic wrap to prevent insects from getting inside.

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Wait for the crystal to form. After a week or two, the crystal will thicken onto the wand. You need to take it out of the jar, let it dry, then enjoy and share the delicious candy with your friends.

Advice

You can also use salt and Epsom salt.
If you boil water the crystal will grow bigger.
You can also tie a string around the toothpick.
You can also use CuSO4•5 (H2O) (cupric sulfate or copper sulfate)

Things you need

Crystal Alum

2 glass jars
Water
Alum (salt or borax also has the same effect)
Fastener
Tweezers

Crystal Ornaments

Glass bottle
Water
Alum, salt or borax
Clean pipe
Coloring

Crystal Candy

Glass bottle
Water
Coloring
Spice
Chopsticks, wooden skewers or sticks
Plastic bags

Steps