Lab Essentials For the Holidays

Looking to bring some holiday cheer to your lab? Or perhaps some lab-themed decorations to your own home? Here are a few ways to use your Lab Essentials for the holidays:

You may have seen the word ‘Chemistree’—a portmanteau of chemistry and Christmas tree—floating around on the internet during the holidays. But what exactly are they?

A traditional Chemistree is a tree-shaped christmas decoration made out of chemistry supplies, but the term is also used to refer to either an actual Christmas tree decorated with chemistry themed content. Both versions are especially popular on social media (a quick search of #Chemistree on Twitter brings up hundreds of results), but did you know that the classic Chemistree has been around for at least 80 years? The earliest recording of a Chemistree is found in a 1940 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education. This classic Chemistree, shown below, was made by students at a high school in Michigan. 

Making a Chemistree

If you want to make your own Chemistree, the following lab essentials are traditionally used:

• retort stands (for the trunk of the tree)
• rings or clamps (for the branches)
• various glassware (for the ornaments)
• coloured liquids (to make the ornaments colourful!)
• rubber tubing (as the garland)

Other frequently used materials include:

• microcentrifuge tubes
• pipette tips
• gloves (inflated to make ornaments or the tree itself)
• any coloured plasticware you have in the lab

If you want to make your tree more overtly Christmas-y you can also include a small string of lights, tinsel, or a garland, but these are far from necessary to make an excellent Chemistree.

Nontraditional Chemistrees have also been made out of circuitry, grown from crystals, or even drawn using semiconductor nanoparticles called quantum dots. 

The possibilities are endless, and new versions of Chemistrees are being made every year. There is even an annual “O Chemistree'' contest run by Dr John O’Donoghue on Twitter and documented here on his blog (the 3rd tree in the above image is actually the winner of the 2021 contest!).

Other Holiday Decor

If you don’t want to commit to building an entire tree, other holiday decor can also be made with miscellaneous lab equipment. Consider making a wreath out of gloves or vials, a decorative garland out of parafilm and coloured plasticware, or simply making some ornaments to hang around the lab. Pipette tips make great stars or snowflakes and petri dishes make excellent ornament bases. They can be filled with coloured agar or other solutions, and if you are microbiologically inclined you can even culture some holiday patterns. 

The only limit is your creativity (and the lab materials you have on hand). So get out there and spread some laboratory themed holiday spirit!

To shop for Lab Essentials you can use as holiday decor, check out our Lab Supplies listings