What Types of Crystals Can Be Formed?

Grow a Salt-Crystal Garden

• Salt crystals are among the most common, and you can grow them easily at home without any special equipment. You'll need salt, ammonia, water and liquid bluing, which you can find in the laundry aisle at your grocery store. Mix together 4 tbsp. of each, allowing the salt to dissolve.

  Use a charcoal briquette, a piece of pumice or several pieces of a broken clay pot as your growing platform. Put them in a shallow dish. Pour the liquid mixture over the growing platform and sprinkle 2 tbsp. of salt on the platform. Crystals will begin to grow within six hours. In a day or two, you can add more of the liquid mixture to the dish to make the crystal growth continue.

Grow a Crystal Snowflake

• To make a beautiful crystal snowflake, you'll need washing soda, another product you can pick up in the laundry aisle at your grocery store. Mix 1/2 cup of washing soda into 2 cups of water. Heat the mixture over gentle heat on the stove until the washing soda dissolves completely. Pour the liquid into a wide-mouthed jar.

  Cut a pipe cleaner into three equal pieces and twist them together at the middle. Bend the ends to form the shape of a six-pointed star. Tie a string to one end of the star, and lower it into the jar. Tie the other end of the string to a pencil, and rest it across the top of the jar. The pipe-cleaner star should be suspended in the middle of the jar when you're done. It should be completely submerged but not touching the bottom. Leave the jar in a cool place overnight. During that time crystals should form to cover the pipe-cleaner sections. Remove the star from the mixture and allow it to dry. The crystals should make the pipe-cleaner star look like a snowflake.

Grow Larger Crystals

• You can use a substance used in pickling called alum to grow larger crystals. Look for alum in the spice section of your grocery store. It may also be called aluminum potassium sulfate. Mix 4 tbsp. of alum with 1 cup of water. Heat on the stove until the alum dissolves completely.

  Pour the mixture into clear glass dish. Allow it to sit overnight. When the water evaporates completely, you'll be left with several large crystals.