How to Make Glow Glass Jars

Do you want to own a sparkling magic jar? This article will show you how to make your own shimmering glass jars with easy-to-find materials, and with a little imagination, your jar will look like it contains little fairies. hon in there.

Table of Contents

Making a Simple Glow Glass Jar

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Let’s proceed to make the glass jar glow at night. You will need to use some glow sticks to do this. The glow sticks can only light up for a short time, so you should do this at night. That way, you won’t waste their short glow time.

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Find a suitable jar. You can use as large or as small a jar as you like, but the smaller the jar, the brighter it will shine. The luminous agent will be more sparsely dispersed for larger jars, and as a result, you may need to use more glow sticks. You can also use a bulb shaped jar with a cork stopper.

You can use colored Mason jars. Or you can color your own jar by mixing clear wood glue with a few drops of food coloring, then use this mixture to paint on the jar.

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Buy some glow sticks. Any type of glow stick will do, but those about 15cm long will have a better luminosity than the ones used for bracelets and necklaces – those glow rather short. The number of glow sticks you need to buy will depend on the size of the jar. The bigger the jar, the more glow sticks you’ll need.

You will need two or three glow sticks, depending on the size of the jar. For example, a jar with a capacity of about 0.5 liters will require two to three 15 cm long glow sticks. ^{[1] X Research Source}
Buy a stick that has a long-lasting glow. Most glow sticks can only glow for 2 to 3 hours, but there are also types that last up to 4 or 6 hours. However, some types can glow for up to 12 hours. The information on the packaging will tell you how long the glow stick is likely to last. The longer the stick glows, the more time you have to enjoy the beauty of the glass jar.
Buy glow sticks of different colors. Most glow sticks will have primary colors such as red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white. You can create many novel colors by combining different colors together. For example, you can mix blue with green to get a navy blue.

Make the stick glow. Hold the stick in both hands and bend it until you hear a “crack”. This will break the glass tube inside and release the chemicals that make the stick glow.

Hold the stick over the rim of the glass jar and cut off one end. You can use a paper cutter or scissors. The glow stick isn’t toxic, but its chemicals can irritate your skin. Wear rubber gloves when doing this.

If children do this step, adult supervision is required.
Place a small sieve with tight eyes over the mouth of the jar. It will retain the small pieces of glass in the glow stick. Do not reuse this sieve for cooking or baking after completing this step.

Pour the liquid into the jar. Turn the glow stick upside down and pour its liquid into the vial. You may have to wiggle the stick a little to get the liquid out.

If any pieces of glass fall into the jar, you can remove them using a plastic fork or plastic spoon. Throw away that fork or spoon, don’t use it to scoop food.

Sprinkle in a little glitter. You can use any glitter you like, but iridescent glitter will make your jar look better because it’s able to reflect light. The amount of glitter you need will depend on the size of the jar and your preference. For example, to make a 0.5 liter jar eye-catching, you will need about 32 grams of fine glitter.

You can use glitter with flowers, hearts and stars ^{[2] X Research Source}
You can mix fine glitter with larger glitter in different colors for a more eye-catching effect. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Make Glow Glass Vials Long Lasting

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Buy a battery-powered LED string light. The best type of light for this is the small LED string light that comes with a small battery box. People often use them to decorate models of houses. You can also use a regular-sized LED string light, but use a battery-powered and medium-length type. Choose one with a white or silver cord. You should use LED lights because they give off less heat than conventional light bulbs.

If you want your vase to have a green effect, use green string lights.

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Find a suitable jar. You can use any jar you like, but choose one that will fit the entire battery pack of the light.

Use stained glass jars. You can color your own jar by mixing clear wood glue with a few drops of food coloring, then using this mixture to paint on the jar.
To make the light more fanciful, you can use milk glue to paint on the jar. The milky glue will dim the light in the jar a bit, so you’ll still see the light without the wires in the jar.

Glue the battery box to the inside of the jar. Use tape to stick the battery box to the bottom of the vial. The battery box will stay in the jar and won’t be exposed once you’ve finished decorating. Make sure you still reach the light switch so that the battery can be easily removed.

If you can’t fit the battery pack into the jar, buy a Mason jar with a double-layer lid. Remove the circular cover on the lid and keep the rim. Glue the battery box on top of the vial cap and cover it with a cloth. You can use ribbon or hemp rope to secure the fabric once you’ve closed the jar. The light string will be inserted into the jar through the hole in the lid of the jar. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Put all the lights in the jar. Arrange so that the string of lights fills the jar.

Add something to the jar. When you add a pinch of chiffon, drapery, or cellophane, you’ll diffuse the light and make it more shimmery. This will also help you hide the wire inside the jar. Cut a piece of paper or fabric larger than the jar and stuff it inside. It needs to be big enough to fit inside the jar without taking up all the space in it.

Instead of chiffon or cellophane, you can put a little moss plant in the jar. Your jar will look like a small forest.

Turn on the light and close the lid. Turn on the switch on the battery case and close the vial cap. Tighten the lid of the box.

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Decorate the jar. You can still see part of the battery box exposed. Use a piece of ribbon to tie a bow around the neck of the jar to cover it up. For more decorating ideas, you can check out the glow jar decorating tutorial in this article.

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Enjoy your work in the dark room. During the day, the lights will still be on, but it’s much nicer if you bring the jar into a dark room (especially if you’ve already covered your jar).

Making Reusable Glowing Glass Vials ^{[6] X Research Source}

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Choose a transparent jar. Use a jar of whatever size you want, but the mouth of the jar should be large enough to fit the paintbrush in. You can use glass or plastic jars, no lid required. Whatever type of jar you use, choose a transparent jar as you will have to paint the inside.

Clean the jar. Use rubbing alcohol to clean the inside and outside of the jar. Oil or anything left in the jar will prevent the luminous paint from sticking.

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Buy luminous paint. You can use fabric paint or acrylic paint, but make sure it’s a “luminous paint”. Unlike glow sticks, luminous paint can be reused after the light is gone. This means that your glow jar can glow multiple times by placing it in sunlight to let it “recharge”.

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Choose tools to paint. You will be drawing round spots inside the jar so you can use a paintbrush or a wooden chopstick. Use paintbrushes and wooden chopsticks of different sizes to create many different large and small round spots.

Prepare paint. Shake the paint bottle well to distribute the luminous particles evenly. ^{[7] X Research Source} Pour about a tablespoon of paint onto a plate. Acrylic and fabric paints tend to dry very quickly, so don’t spill too much, or they’ll dry out before you’re done. You can add more paint if you have used up all the paint on the plate.

Draw small dots on the inside of the jar. Dip a paintbrush or wooden wand into the paint and make small spots on the inside of the jar. If you’re using more than one paint color, use one at a time.

Wait for the paint to dry before putting the lid back on. This can take a few minutes to a few hours. Read the instructions for use printed on the paint can to see when the paint will dry. You can dry the jar in a sunny place to let the paint dry and “charge” the energy at the same time. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Make the paint glow. Place the jar in a well-lit room or in sunlight for 10 to 15 minutes.

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Decorate the jar. You can paint the lids of the jars in a different color, cover them with glitter, or cover the lids with cloth. You can also put drapes, chiffon, or cellophane in the jar. For more decorating ideas, check out the decorating tutorials in this article.

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Enjoy the results. Once the paint has received enough light, place it in a dark room. The paint will light up and look like a swarm of fairies is inside. When the paint is out of light, you can put the jar out in the light for a few minutes before bringing it back into the room.

Decorating the Vase

Add something to the jar. Materials like drapes, chiffon, cellophane, teddy bears or shallow moss can all diffuse light and make the vase appear fancier. When choosing chiffon or sheer, choose soft, pale or white fabrics. When choosing cellophane, choose iridescent ones to better reflect light. You can also put a small teddy bear or some shallow moss in the jar.

Put a fairy in the jar. Buy a fairy figurine, glue it to the inside of the jar lid with glue. Close the lid and turn the vial upside down. The lid of the jar will become the bottom and you already have what looks like a snowball.

Add some shallow moss, small rocks and tiny flowers to the lid of the box, around the fairy. You will both cover the back of the jar lid and create a lovely place for the fairy.
If you can’t find a fairy figure, you can make your own by buying a human figure and attaching butterfly wings to the statue’s back.

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Paint the lid of the jar. You can make your jars look more colorful by painting the lids. Use sandpaper to clean the lid of the jar, then use a soft cloth to remove all the dust on it. Paint the lid of the jar with acrylic paint with a brush or paintbrush. You can also use spray paint.

If you’re using spray paint, shake the can for a while until you hear a click inside. Hold the paint bottle about 15 to 20 cm from the surface to be painted, then spray a thin and even layer of paint. Wait for the paint to dry before applying the next coat. You need to spray paint in a well-ventilated place to avoid being stunned by the smell of paint.

Coat the glitter on the lid of the jar. For a sparkling jar lid, apply glue on the lid of the jar. At this time, do not rush to spray paint on the sides of the jar. Then pour glitter on the lid. Gently lift the vial cap and shake the glitter out. Wait for the glue and glitter on the cap to dry before applying glue and glitter on the sides of the jar.

Line a piece of paper underneath while doing this. When you’re done, simply fold the paper in half and pour the rest of the glitter into the tinsel.
Secure the glitter so it doesn’t come off. Wait for the glue and glitter to dry, then spray a very thin layer of clear paint over it. Wait for this coat to dry before applying a second coat.

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Fabric cover for jar lids. Place the lid on top of a nice piece of fabric. Draw a circle 3 to 5 cm larger than the lid of the jar. Cut out the circle and put the lid on the jar. Place the round cloth over the lid of the jar and smooth the edges of the fabric down the side of the jar. Wrap a ribbon or hemp rope around the neck of the jar to hold the cloth in place. Tie a ribbon or hemp rope into a bow.

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Add accessories to the bottle cap. Take several colorful glass beads and attach them to the lid of the jar with glue. You can also use beads, buttons, some beautiful stones or figurines on it.

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Tie a bow around the neck of the jar. You can also add a flower or stone to the center of the bow for decoration.

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Use colored glass jars. Mason jars are dyed many colors such as blue, green or purple. Thanks to that, your glowing jar will look much better. If you can’t find a colored glass jar, you can dye it yourself by mixing wood glue with a few drops of food coloring. Paint the mixture on the sides of the jar with a paintbrush or sponge.

You can use milk glue to sweep or spray on the sides of the jar. Your vase will look like it’s been frosted and it’s perfect for putting string lights in it.

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Paste more fairy pictures with black paper. You can print fairy shadows on paper and cut them out. Tape or use glue to attach them to the sides of the jar.

Advice

Since these jars can glow, looking at them at night is the best.
Let’s decorate the jar to become more eye-catching.
Use fairy colors like white, pink and purple.
Pieces of chiffon or cellophane in the jar will help diffuse the light better.

Warning

Be careful when cutting the glow sticks. It contained small pieces of glass.
Do not swallow or touch the solution in the glow stick. They may say “non-toxic” on the packaging, but the chemicals in them can still be harmful to you. Those chemicals can irritate your skin. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Things you need

Glass jar with lid
Light stick (way 1)
Latex gloves (method 1 – recommended)
Drag (method 1)
Glitter (way 1)
Luminous paint (method 2)
Battery-powered LED string lights (method 3)
Ribbons, fabric, glass beads, glitter and paint (optional)

Steps