Seasonal Glow in the Dark Mason Jars

The change of the seasons is everyone’s new gear in the stick shift of life. Once winter hits, stores, streets, even homes lighten up to the holiday season. For spring, things become brighter, ready for the warmth. In summer, warmth has arrived and the summer fever has kicked in. As for fall, warm colors emerge and coziness sets in. Even though all of the changes that seem to be happening, one thing for sure is a constant in a bunch of variables: décor. Décor is an art or craft that brings meaning, passion, and beauty, in one sitting. Décor is inspirational pieces that bring strangers, loved ones, even children together for many different reasons. Décor is a conversation starter. Family crafts however are memory makers. From my experience, arts and crafts make home feel like home. To me it makes me feel whole seeing an art project hanging on the fridge, or on someone’s dresser. However, I have discovered an art and craft that can complement everything above and beyond: seasonal glow in the dark mason jars. This décor can be changed to match seasons and the holiday joys. In this paper, I will go into depth by going over two ways to make seasonal glow in the dark mason jars with one being glow in the dark paint and the other being made with glow sticks. I will go step by step to accomplish the end goal and to have successfully made seasonal glow in the dark mason jars.

First, you need to obtain a regular any sized Ball mason jar. You can find these online or at any local stores near you and a box set only costing a little fewer than ten dollars. Also, need to obtain a pack of different colored glow in the dark paint that will go well with the winter/holiday theme. You can find these as well as online and at any local art and craft stores near you. Then you will need a paintbrush. The size of the paintbrush is up to you as the creator based off of your personal choice of if you want a small, medium, or large Dotson the mason jar. Again, you can find these online or any art and craft stores near you, and the price will depend on your purchase. The last item you need is tap water from the faucet. Nothing special, just water from your own home would work. Once you have all of the items and they’re lying in front of you, let the fun begin.

(Your supplies may vary, they do not need to be the same brands I used)

First,make sure you either hand washed or used a dishwasher to have cleaned the Mason jar(s) you are using for the project. Make sure the lid is off of the jar you are working on. For safety reasons, you might want to have latex gloves on when applying the paint on. If you are allergic to latex, rubber-cleaning gloves will do the same job like latex by protecting your skin. Then mix the paint with your paintbrush until the glowing particles have dissolved evenly. Make as many dots as you wish inside of the mason jar using your paintbrush. The more dots you make, the prettier the mason jars outcome will be. Dot on only one color at a time; do not mix the glow in the dark paints. For example if you use blue and light blue for your winter season colors then start with blue, dot as many as you want, then move on to the light blue, or vise versa. Also, when you are ready to switch paint colors, make sure to wash out your paintbrush with tap water and make sure there is no trace of the color used before it. Once the color/dot ratio is to your perfection, then leave it out to dry and you have now created a seasonal glow in the dark paint Mason jar. It is this easy. In daylight your jar won’t look that great, but at night it will make your room, an outside area, the family living room, or even an office exhilarate beautifulness and coziness. To activate the paint you can either charge it with a lamp by putting it up there with the bulb or wait and charge it with daylight, then at night you can see your creation.

Seasonal glow in the dark Mason jar made with glow in the dark paint that I did at home and on my own. I used a pint sized Mason jar and hand washed it before I started my art and craft. I was going off the theme of the spring season. I used light blue and a light green glow in the dark paints. I placed the color dots in random order. I did that motion for each color. I used one color throughout the entire inside of the Mason jar. Then I repeated motion with the other color I used. Once it looked like I wanted it to look, I waited for the paint to dry. Once the paint was dried, I charged the paint with a desk lamp for only two to three minutes and it only lasted two to three minutes. Which is how long I wanted it to glow for. The only issue that came about was it was hard to take a picture in the dark with a regular phone camera.

First, you need to obtain a regular pint sized Ball mason jar. You can find these online or at any local stores near you and a box set only costing a little fewer than ten dollars. Also, need to obtain a pack of different colored glow sticks. You can find these as well as online and at any local stores near you and the price will depend on the pack size you buy. If you buy a bigger pack, you’ll have to pay a little more compared a littler sized pack of glow sticks. Then you will need a pair of scissors. The size of the scissors is up to you as a person based off of your personal choice of small kid scissors or normal sized scissors. Again, you can find these online or any local or art and craft stores near you, and the price will depend on your purchase. The last item you need is glitter. Glitter can be found online or any local arts and crafts store near you and the price will depend on your purchase. Also make sure the glitter color with match nicely with the glow stick liquid you’ve chosen to do for the seasonal art and craft. Then once again when you have all of the items and they’re all in front of you, begin creating this seasonal art and craft.

(The supplies do not need to be the brands I used above)

Make sure you clean the Mason jar by either hand washing it or putting it through a cycle in the dishwasher. Before you even think about messing with the glow sticks, you need to make sure that the Mason jar lid/screw is off. Once the lid is off, grab the glow stick color you prefer and hover it horizontality over the jar. With one hand, hold onto the glow stick and in the other hand cut the end of the glow stick off with your choice of scissors and pour it into the Mason jar. For safety reasons, you might want to have latex gloves on when working with glow stick liquid. If you are allergic to latex, rubber-cleaning gloves will do the same job by protecting your skin. Depending on your preference is how many of the same colored glow sticks you should put into the mason jar. Once the height of the glow stick liquid is where you as the creator want it, then pour about ½ cup of glitter of your choice into the Mason jar. The glitter will bring more glamorous aspects to the project. Stir the jar in your hand a little bit to let the glitter spread and connect. Then, tightly screw the lid back on and shake very well with one hand at the top of the jar and your other hand at the bottom. Once shaken, this glow in the dark liquid will activate and start to glow. Now that the project is finished, you have an art and craft that will “lighten” up any darkness you may find. Plus, you have a great piece to talk and share about and to brighten up any family gathering inside or out.

The seasonal glow in the dark Mason jars are based off of your preference. It goes off of your pros and cons, what versus what, like and dislikes, liquid or paint? These projects brought more meaning behind family arts and crafts. These projects stand for something more then just being décor or conversational pieces. You can make it into traditions. Family traditions that could still be going on long after you’ve passed away. Seasonal glow in the dark Mason jars, colors and all, has more definitions beyond it. It is a true work of art.