Tools and materials:
- Borax
- Jar or glass
- Food coloring
- Boiling water
- Pipe cleaners
- String
- Scissors
- Skewer or something similar
- Mirror with frame
- Painter’s tape and/or cardboard
by Lizzi
Make Your Own Unique Faux Amethyst Mirror With This Tutorial
10 Materials
$30
2 Hours
Easy
I love mirrors and I love crystals, and when they come together, I think it’s just gorgeous. I wanted a nice mirror with crystals around it and decided to give making it myself a shot. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through making your own mirrors with crystal frames. I chose purple to make it look like amethyst, but you can choose to emulate any crystal you like!
Amethyst mirror
Prepare your pipe cleaner
You’re going to start off by making the crystals out of a Borax solution, and the first thing you need to do for that is to take some pipe cleaners and scrunch them up. No rhyme or reason is needed for the way you fold them!
Borax crystals
Make the solution
To make a Borax solution, you’re going to mix Borax into boiling water. Keep adding the powder until you see it forming a film at the bottom of the jar, resulting from the powder no long dissolving into the solution.
Amethyst geode mirror
Add coloring
You don’t have to, but if you want to make your crystals colorful, you’ll have to add some food coloring to the solution, now. I chose purple to get an amethyst-looking crystal.
Amethyst framed mirror
Insert your pipe cleaner
Take your pipe cleaner and tie some kind of a string around it, then tie the other side of the string to a skewer or something else that can lay flat across the jar. Your pipe cleaner should be suspended in the liquid.
How to make an amethyst mirror
Cover the jar
Place a piece of cardboard or something else over the jar to keep it covered and prevent air from getting in to slow down the process. Then leave it to sit overnight. For this project you’ll need a lot of crystals, so repeat this process as many times as you want (I made about two dozen) and let them sit in the solution.
Amethyst mirror with glitter
Add glitter
Paint the frame of your mirror with Mod Podge. Then pour glitter in the same color as your crystals on the Mod Podge. This will look great under any gaps in your crystal placement. I recommend taping some cardboard over the mirror while you do this.
Borax crystal mirror
Remove the crystals
Carefully remove your crystals from their jars and dry them on a towel.
Borax mirror DIY
Place your crystals
Take your crystals and place them where you want them to be on your frame. I chose to also use some fake flowers in the color scheme.
How to make a mirror with borax crystals
Glue your pieces
Once you’re satisfied with your placement, go ahead and glue everything down. I used E6000 adhesive. If you chose not to use glitter on your frame, I would recommend sanding the frame first because the glue works better on a textured surface.
Faux amethyst mirror
That’s it! After your mirror dries, remove the cardboard, and it is ready to be hung up! I loved this project. I had so much fun with it and I just love how all the elements come together. You can see different shades of crystals depending on what color pipe cleaner I used, and I think the flowers really add some fun. Purple is one of my favorite colors, so this definitely matches the decor in my home. I hope you try this out because it is such a great project. Just be sure to share your results in the comments!
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Have a question about this project?
I know you used several jars to make the crystals. If I use a bigger jar and hang about four crystals descending from the skewer will that work or will they just form together?
Make sure that they don't touch each other. If they touch, they will fuse.
I love this so much but I do have one question... I live in southeast Texas and I'm wondering if the "crystals will dissolve in the high humidity?
They don't dissolve. I made borax snowflakes with my students several years ago. I had one or two of my own. After a few years, they did turn back to a powdery substance. (borax) I don't know that this will stand the test of time.
Love this!! Can you use hot ups instead of jars??