blog #379 >> Salt Crystals & Crystal Cave

Last time I was at the store, I accidentally bought sea salt instead of regular table salt. Not that there's anything wrong with sea salt, I have a course grained finishing sea salt that I love. However, sea salt isn't fortified with any iodine, which is one of those rare nutrients our bodies need. Now I'm not quite sure what to do with all this extra sea salt, and the only thing I could think to make with it, were salt crystals. When I was a little girl, I LOVED to make salt crystals. I must have made them at least once a week. They're kinda like Magic Rocks, but not as colorful or as tall. Also, salt crystals are very easy to make, and unlike Magic Rocks, completely non-toxic.



To make your salt crystals stir three tablespoons of salt into a cup of warm water. (Make sure your water is warm enough to dissolve the salt.) Stir for a few minutes, until the salt has completely disappeared. Next pour your salt water solution into a shallow pan. (Preferably, this is a pan you no longer need, since the salt crystals are hard to clean off. ) Set your pan in a warm spot, and wait for all the water to evaporate. The warmer the spot the faster your crystals will grow. (When I was young I'd set the pan underneath our wood stove, which brought quick results. I'd have salt crystals overnight. But this time I set them up in front of the heater, which took about four days for the crystals to finish growing.) You can also make sugar and alum crystals this same way, but if your sugar water spills while your waiting for your water to evaporate, it will make a sticky mess. For best results, I recommend the salt crystals.

My favorite book growing up and...

...the original instructions found inside.

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And the deadly but beautiful crystal cave found in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico… 1000+ feet below the surface. Found at Neatorama.

Found also at National Geographic:






As well as, The Daily Mail, my favorite news site:



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