Excellent news subgirl.
See what you think of this - I've had the "recipe" for a while now, planning to decorate the shop for Christmas. The problem, of course, is the shop shuts from October to April
You'll see at the bottom it says you can use sugar or salt instead of borax.
How To Grow a Borax Snowflake
From Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,
Do real snowflakes melt too quickly?
Grow a borax snowflake, color it blue if you like, and enjoy the sparkle all year long!
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Overnight
Here's How:
1. Cut a pipe cleaner into three equal sections.
2. Twist the sections together at their centers to form a six-sided snowflake shape.
Don't worry if an end isn't even, just trim to get the desired shape.
The snowflake should fit inside the jar.
3. Tie the string to the end of one of the snowflake arms.
Tie the other end of the string to the pencil.
You want the length to be such that the pencil hangs the snowflake into the jar.
4. Fill the widemouth pint jar with boiling water.
5. Add borax one tablespoon at a time to the boiling water, stirring to dissolve after each addition.
The amount used is 3 tablespoons borax per cup of water.
It is okay if some undissolved borax settles to the bottom of the jar.
6. If desired, you may tint the mixture with food color.
7. Hang the pipe cleaner snowflake into the jar so that the pencil rests on top of the jar and the snowflake is completely covered with liquid and hangs freely (not touching the bottom of the jar).
8. Allow the jar to sit in an undisturbed location overnight.
9. Look at the pretty crystals!!!
You can hang your snowflake as a decoration or in a window to catch the sunlight :-)
Tips:
1. Borax is available at grocery stores in the laundry soap section, such as 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster. Do not use Boraxo soap.
2. Because boiling water is used and because borax isn't intended for eating, adult supervision is recommended for this project.
3. If you can't find borax, you can use sugar or salt (may take longer to grow the crystals, so be patient). Add sugar or salt to the boiling water until it stops dissolving. Ideally you want no crystals at the bottom of the jar.
What You Need:
* string
* wide mouth jar (pint)
* white pipe cleaners
* borax (see tips)
* pencil
* boiling water
* blue food coloring (opt.)
* scissors
It's just as I downloaded it - so I'm not saying you need adult supervision
im so happy because this morning I found a free christmas tree! it was just proped up in the hallway of my crappy flats with a sign on saying "unwanted-feel free to take"! I wanted a tree so badly because it's me and the boyfriends first christmas living together, but there was no way we could afford one 
but of course I still cant afford decorations so im going to make some. I was thinking gingerbread shapes and making bells out of egg box bits covered in glitter and strung together but what else? any ideas?
I'm sure the many crafty folk on here, will soon post some of their ideas for decorations.
pick some holly berries to decorate the tree, if you can't find any holly berries you could use cotoneaster berries instead 
yeah I'll do that, but dip them in glitter first 
