News Taffy

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! Our weekend was so crazy. We had Disney Live Friday night at the ASU convocation center, and it was seriously magical. Saturday, we got a new member of our family, an 18 month old Westie named Jazz. We've been looking for just the perfect dog for our family for several months now, and hit the jackpot with our little guy. (Three cheers for a pre-house trained dog!) Sunday was my birthday, and obviously, Halloween yesterday. With the sewing machine down for awhile and the busy weekend, we were literally coming up with costume ideas for the girls as we were hurrying to leave for a party last night. London was a queen, and Story was a baby aerobics instructor. Our post today isn't even about their costumes, but I'm including a picture anyway because it's just too cute. Plus, you guys have watched Story start solid foods and London turn two more than 9 months ago, so you're like family, right?

Because today begins November, which for this house means the month of restraint and self control so we don't go all Christmas crazy too soon, I'm sharing one of my favorite crafts because it can be just for fun, or for the holidays. We keep a box of Borax at our house because I use it for cleaning, so it's always handy and super simple for making crystal shapes. First, you take a pipe cleaner and make a shape you want. I made a fun spiral, circle, and, to show how these can be fun ornament crafts, a snowflake. Next, tie string or thread to the pipe cleaner, and tie that to silverware, or whatever. We used wooden skewers. Boil water, and when it's rolling, pour it slowly into wide mouthed jars or glasses. Next, stir Borax into the water a tablespoon at a time. You want to continue stirring it in until the water is completely saturated with some sitting at the bottom. If you want to add food coloring to the water, do that after you've added the Borax. We made a pink circle with yellow coloring in the water, a purple spiral with no coloring, and a white snowflake with blue food coloring. Then hang the shape in the water from the butter knife or whatever so that it's not touching the bottom or sides. Sit it somewhere where it won't get knocked over, but curious little ones can watch the magic. Pretty soon, the crystals start to accumulate. We made ours around 11:30 a.m., and I took them out around 10 p.m.

Tip: watch the size of your shape and the size of the opening of your container. I put the snowflake in a recycled pasta sauce jar, and after it grew and became hard, almost didn't get it back out. The containers will be coated on the sides and bottom with hard crystals, but they wash off easily with hot water.

I love how simple and clean this craft is, but I mostly love the science and educational aspect to it. I don't know all the reasons on how it works, but I know Borax is originally a naturally occurring soft crystal that is ground. If anyone out there knows the science behind this, I'd love to know before London stops being satisfied with the "it's magic!" explanation. Happy November everyone!

Until next week,
Heather