Use A Laundry Room Staple To DIY Fake Frost That Looks Like The Real Thing

There is something exciting about making new holiday decorations. There are also many options to choose from, such as beautiful snowflakes and lasso wreaths. Another fun way to decorate for the holidays is to take some rather plain items related to the holidays and make them stand out with a fun and frosted appearance. This involves soaking the items in a simple mixture of water and borax. After just a few hours, you will have beautiful frosted decorations to hang wherever you like.

All you need are items to soak, borax, a container, and some hot water. This lets you give several decorations around your home that wonderful frosted look. Depending on the size of your container, this fake frost can cover small pieces — such as pine cones — or larger decorations like wreaths. You can use just about anything that's dry, including fruits, sticks, and branches. Plastics are also an option, though you may want to lightly scuff them to give the crystals something to hold onto.

They usually last a few months, but they may break before you can use them again next year. To reduce the chances of them breaking, you'll want to store them in a place where they won't get bumped around much. Or, you can seal them with a sealant spray to help hold them in place. However, the seals tend to be less friendly to the environment, so some decorators only make these frosted items as a yearly tradition.

You don't need much borax to got these stunning crystals — just roughly 6 tablespoons per 1 cup of water in a container. You'll want to use hot water so you can ensure all of the borax crystals dissolve. Then, once everything's mixed, place your items inside the container. You want all of your objects to be fully submerged, so if they float, you may have to weigh them down. 

After about an hour, check your decorations. They should have started to form crystals by this point, and they should still be somewhat delicate. If you want larger crystals, you can leave them in the mixture for a while longer. Once you are happy with the size, set them somewhere safe to dry for a few hours so the crystals can harden and become sturdy. Pair these with the breathtaking makeover that turns a kitchen into a sparkling winter wonderland using faux ice blocks to further create the winter wonderland theme. Just know that these items are somewhat fragile.

This DIY is incredibly cheap and easy to make once you know what you are doing. Even if you don't already have borax around the house, you can buy a box and find some ways to use the rest of it if you don't want to leave it lying around. After all, it's a powerful ingredient that works like magic to clean walls.

Unfortunately, borax can be quite dangerous, especially if you have children or pets that could potentially put these items in their mouth. Thankfully, you can get similar results from Epsom salt. It's also a comparable process, though you'll want to use about a one-to-one ratio of it and hot water. Then you'll want to dissolve the crystals fully before placing the items in and letting them soak for at least an hour. Depending on the look you want for your frosted items, Epsom salt might even be a better option. It creates finer frost that make them appear lightly coated, compared to the bigger, more intricate crystals from borax. 

For either mixture, you can add a few more decorations to really make them stand out. Adding a few drops of food coloring to the mixture can lightly dye the crystals. For frosted snow, you might not want to dye it a bunch of colors, but a light blue could help add to a magical winter feeling. Also, after you seal your crystals for the first time, you could add a pinch of glitter on them for a little extra pizzazz. Just remember to seal it again to hold most of the sparkles in place. Or, you could leave the frosted decorations as they are and let them pair with the old-fashioned Christmas tree tradition that deserves a comeback –flocking.