Halloween Glow Jars: A Spooky Craft

Spooky Glow Jars Halloween Craft

My children have been eagerly asking me to select their Halloween costumes, and even though it’s only September, their excitement for the fall season is palpable.

For this entry, I wanted to share a few quick, enjoyable, and creative methods to make your own “spooky jar”.

The jar featured above is my creation. It was my first attempt at this craft, and I learned several valuable lessons that I’ll share at the end of the instructions.

For creating this jar, I bought a mason jar, glow sticks, and a foam stamp kit from my local Dollar Tree. I already had white craft paint at home. The stamp kit and the paint are both reusable.

At first, I tried dipping the stamps into the paint, but it ended up being too much, making the ghosts appear blob-like. I then decided to use my finger to apply a thin layer of paint onto the stamps instead.

Though the paint made the stamps slip a bit, it was easy to clean off with a paper towel. I reapplied until I got a look I was satisfied with.

Afterward, I carefully cut the end off a glow stick and poured it into the jar. A word of caution: don’t try to snip the other end to blow it through, as it will get on your lips and tongue, leaving a horrible taste. Trust me, I learned this the hard way. Be careful, as part of the insides of the glow sticks is glass. I used three bracelets in my jar.

Close the jar tightly and shake vigorously! The glow from the glow sticks is meant to last up to 8 hours, though ours only lasted about an hour.

What I Learned:

My husband and I concluded that using glow-in-the-dark paint would have been a better option. This would eliminate the need for glow sticks and would be reusable. Simply drizzle or paint the insides with the glow paint and let it dry. Nonetheless, this was a fun project!

But wait… there’s more!

Ethan and I decided to take a simpler approach to achieve a Spooky Glow Jar. This time, you will need a jar, glow sticks, and some “spooky” stickers, which we also found at Dollar Tree.

We decorated the jar with creepy foam spider stickers, curled a few activated glow sticks, and put the lid on.

This method is less messy, glows longer, is reusable, and just as “spooky.” Plus, the kids can freely express their creativity. I also spotted short strands of Halloween-colored lights that could potentially be integrated, but I appreciate the simplicity of just snapping a glow stick and tossing it in.

Ta Da!