DIY your fall decor with these fun to make Borax Crystal Pumpkins! These beautiful crystal pumpkins can be decorated a variety of ways and make great gifts as well. This project only requires a few items to make and requires minimal hands-on time.
Fill a large 2 gallon pot with water to about 3/4 full.Bring the water to a boil, add the borax to the hot water and stir until it's all dissolved.
Turn off the heat and add your ceramic pumpkin to the pot, allowing the water to go inside the pumpkin to prevent it from floating.
If you are doing multiple pumpkins, make sure that they are spaced apart from each other and from the sides of the pot. The crystals won't form properly on them if they are touching each other or the pot.
Allow the pumpkin(s) to soak for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer you let them soak in the borax solution, there will be more crystals and they will be bigger in size.
Once the pumpkins are covered in crystals to your preference, remove them from the borax water and allow them to completely dry (it may take 1-2 days since unglazed ceramic tends to soak up water).
Once they are completely dried, you can leave these just as they are, add colored or metallic paint, or spray a clear coat of paint on as a protectant.
What to do with the borax solution:
To reuse the Borax crystal solution: reheat the pot to boiling again and dissolve a bit more Borax in it to replace the Borax that left with the previous pumpkins (I added about 1/2 to 1 cup or so). To dispose of the Borax solution: warm up the pot on the stove just enough to loosen the crystals stuck the inside of the pot. Don't heat it too much or it will completely dissolve them all again and you'll have to start over. Once the crystals are loose from the side and bottom, scoop or strain out the crystals and pour the remaining water down the sink along with hot water. I haven't found any good info on this, but it's probably not a good idea to pour dissolved and concentrated Borax solution directly down your sink.