DIY Wednesday: Fairy Jar

    Hey everyone! Welcome and thank you to everyone for stopping by at Getting Green with Baby’s second DIY Wednesday! I apologize for not posting this last week, but at the time I didn’t think it had turned out right. Come to find out, my impatience got the best of me and it just needed more time. (You’ll understand in a minute. ;) ) Anyhow, here is a project you may or may not want to do with the kids. (If you do decide to do it with children, I would suggest they either have a lot of patience, are older, or both!) Younger children will enjoy keeping these in their rooms, especially at night, where they can daydream about where the fairies came from and how they live as they drift off to sleep. J

What you’ll need:

-a jar of your choice

-glow in the dark paint (you can use whatever colors you like, but I found that the orange and blue in the kind I used didn’t show up as well)

-paintbrush (I suggest using a smaller paintbrush, the pointier the better!)

1)     Take whatever kind of jar you desire (we used old canning jars) and make sure it is thoroughly clean and dry on the inside and out.

2)     Squeeze out just a small dollop of paint onto an easily washable or removable surface. (I love using old butter tub lids and sour cream tub lids, but I’ve heard of people using old magazines too so they can just rip the page out and throw it away when they’re done.)

3)     Load up your brush with paint and place dots randomly throughout the inside of the jar. Repeat this step with as many colors as you want. My husband said that he read it looks better if you alternate between small and larger dots, but personally I think it would look better with medium and big dots so that you can actually see them! Again, it might have just been the brand/type of paint we used, but I had a hard time seeing some in the dark. Plus, if you’re doing this with a younger child, it will be easier for them to make bigger dots.

4)     Once you’re satisfied with the inside covering of your jar, please, please, PLEASE let it sit in a sunny spot of your house (or outside where it’s not going to get wet) until the paint has dried and has had ample time to soak up light for several days! This activates whatever makes the glow in the dark stuff glow. I would wait at least a week for best results. (This is why I was saying I thought ours had not turned out right at first.)

5)     After letting it sit and soak up light for a week (I really do believe sunlight works better than artificial indoor lighting), go into a closet or room with no windows to check that it is glowing. Place wherever you like, such as your child’s room for them to enjoy. 

This is the one my hubby made. I thought his looked better since I got all crazy with mine and had 5 different colors and glitter. :/ It DOES glow now, I just couldn't get a picture of it.