Boo and I bought some Fourth of July glow sticks and broke into them early. We cut off the ends and dumped the contents in, and shook the jar to coat the sides. (It’s non-toxic.)
An instant glow stick lantern:
We mixed the red, white and blue together and it made a pink/purple-y color. Monday night I think we’ll make separate lanterns for each color!
Update: I’ve heard from several readers that adding water to the jar helps to keep the glow! I’ll be doing that next time!
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Pretty!!!
I love the glowing purple! This would be a fun way to put some of my empty baby food jars to use. Happy 4th! :: Melissa
Fantastic! And such fun!
It’s like magic :). How long do they glow?
What size jar is that?
What a fun idea!!!!
Awesome!! I love how it turned out ~ we are going to have to try this!!
how awesome!!! oh btw im curious, how do u get ur post to only show a snippet on google reader?
Love This Idea !!!
What a great idea!! My girls and I have to try this!
Just curious…..does it eventually wash out or is the jar stained after this?
It will wash out and the jar only glows for about 15 minutes before dying out.
oh – and use caution! There will be little fragments of broken glass inside the tube if it breaks before you dump it.
I get my glowsticks at Target. They sell them in the $1.00 section of their store, in a tube, with 10 or 12 plastic glowsticks inside. Great bargain!
Ours glowed for about 6 hours (maybe longer but we went to bed). We had to shake them periodically to recoat the jars. It washed out fine.
Can you tell me what kind of glowsticks you used to last that long? Wanna make sure they last 😉 thanks so much for any help.
Omg just noticed this post was from 2011, lol! If anyone knows the answer to this question, any hell would rock! Tnx!
THIS is a fabulous idea!!! We are going to do it for my daughter’s birthday sleepover this year.
What a fun project!! Can’t wait to try this with my boys! I loved this so much I shared your page on my blog: http://our-scott-spot.blogspot.com/2011/07/pinterest-addiction.html
hey-i tried this over the weekend and it didn’t turn out too good? how many glow sticks did you end up having to use? what brand were they. to fill the whole jar I would have to use way too many to be worth it. just curious! thanks!
Do you brake the glass in the tube before putting stuff in jar? Looks so cool!!!!
One of the reacting ingredients in glow sticks is hydrogen peroxide. If you try this, and your lantern gets dim, try pouring a small amount of hydrogen peroxide into the jar and shaking it again. It may perk it up again. No promises 🙂
Also, if you cut the stick open BEFORE breaking the glass vial, you can paint with the dye component, and then spray it with peroxide from a mister to make the design glow. It won’t last long in open air, but it’s a fun party trick.
CUTE! How long did they last?
Just stopping by to let you know that I have featured your project on Fun Family Crafts today! You can see it here
http://funfamilycrafts.com/glow-stick-lanterns/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, I’d love it if you would submit them 🙂 If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above.
Is there anything else in the jar? I love this. Oh, a tiny caution – if you get glow stick juice on your hands and then wipe your eyes it burns… “don’t ask me how I know!” Lol!
There is also a place i read you can put glitter in withthem and it will sparkle!
I saw that as well…someone suggested using diamond sparkles and it gives it an extra twinkling affect.
It’s so sci-fi. Awesome!!!
Congratulations! Your project made it to the top 5 most clicked on crafts for the month of September at Fun Family Crafts! http://funfamilycrafts.com/september-2011-top-posts/
Do you crack the glow sticks before dumping out the contents? This looks like a really cool idea.
Yes, you do crack them first. Thanks Debbie!
Im glass supplier and i need information about your glow in the dark.
Its posible to maje it for silk screen?
Glow Jars, looks like something I can do with my kids…
This is such a good idea!! I’m so trying this for halloween.
Love it!
haha. As a young adult, we used to hang the chem lights (glow stick) from the ceiling. Poke the bottom to create a drip. Put a pan of water underneath and watch the glow show that is created when the material hits the pan. Watch out. It will discolor the walls slightly. But we were young then. 😉
I am going to try putting these jars in my pumpkins this year for Halloween! Thanks for sharing the idea!
Miss Cherry Heart
how do they glow?
Oh glow sticks ididnt know thatintil now
Are there any tips for making the glowing liquid stick to the sides of the jar better? I’m trying this out tonight for a party tomorrow and it works great, but as is its wont the liquid drips into the bottom of the jar. Do you just have to keep shaking it, or can you add something to help the viscosity of the liquid?
I made these tonight for Halloween. Thank you for the great idea!
When I was a kid (I’m 37 now) my brother and I got curious as to what would happen if you put glow sticks in the microwave for a few seconds (like 15). Guess what? Makes ’em glow again. I won’t ever tell my child I did that, though. 😉
Amazing, not only were you in the Top 5 on Fun Family Crafts in September with this project at #2, but this same project came in at #1, the most popular project for October! Congratulations!
I don’t know why, but this didn’t work for me. What size jar should you use? I also tried breaking before putting the stuff in and after. Hmmmm…. Maybe I’ll have to try again.
It didnt work for me either 🙁 I was so wanting it to work! maybe my jar was too big? Or my glow stick was too small? I don’t know. Anyone have any suggestions as to ar size and how big of a glow stick you need? Thanks so much!
I heard you do NOT break before you put it in…I would use a smaller jar and you can add a mist of hydrogen peroxide to get it going!
I wonder I can cut half glow stick in jar (fit size)
We are gonna try this making these this weekend! With a 8 and 10 year old.
Do you crack the stick before cutting it?
Yes, you want to crack it first.
I did this but it didn’t last long…maybe my jars were too big…
I put my glow stick liquid into water, trying to get the water to glow, but it just went to a normal color, no glowing. Did I do something wrong?
Thank you so much for this great idea. I can’t wait until the summer to set these adorable lanterns all around the yard. I have included this in my Sunday Shares post for useful sites at http://www.doomestic.com Thanks again!!