For some reason, I just cannot get enough of the glow in the dark stuff this year!  Maybe it’s because I have an engaging three year old who is absolutely fascinated by the stuff.  The other night, we created these fun Glow Stick Pumpkin Jars to illuminate the porch for Halloween!

Wanna create your own Glow Stick Pumpkin Jars?

Here’s what you need:

Glow sticks {I found mine at Michaels}

Cutting board

Knife

Oven mitts

Plastic cup

Little glass jars

Black adhesive vinyl

E6000 glue

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Disclaimer:  This is a messy project!  Definitely requires parental supervision!

To begin, I used my Cameo to cut out jack-o-lantern faces out of black adhesive vinyl.  You can cut these out with scissors too.  Adhere the faces to the outside of the glass jars.

First a little glow stick science lesson…

A glow stick is made of two parts.  There is a glass rod that contains the colored liquid inside a plastic tube.  Surrounding the glass rod inside the plastic tube is a layer of clear gel.  When you break the rod, the two fluids combine causing the glowing effect or chemiluminescence.  {How’s that for fancy learnin’?}

For this project, you will need to carefully extract the glass rod IN TACT.

Using a cutting board and knife, cut the end off the plastic tube.

Pour the clear liquid in a plastic cup.

Using oven mitts, gently break the glass rod containing the colored liquid into the same plastic cup.

Pour a tiny amount of the mixed liquid into one the glass jars.

Glue the lids on with E6000 glue.  Allow about an hour to set.

Then swirl the liquid around in the jar to create your own Glow Stick Pumpkin Jars!

Mine stayed lit for about six hours.  So this is a last minute project with a BIG effect!

Have you ever crafted with glow sticks?  I would love to hear YOUR ideas!