Eerie Luminescence Jars: A Halloween DIY Craft

Spooky Glow Jars Halloween Craft

With September just started, my kids are already eager to pick out their Halloween costumes and embrace the fall festivities. In light of their excitement, I’ve decided to share some quick and fun ideas for crafting a “spooky jar.”

Here’s the jar I created. This was my first attempt, and I picked up a few useful tips that I’ll share at the end of the instructions.

I bought a mason jar, glow sticks, and a foam stamp kit from Dollar Tree, and I had some white craft paint on hand. Both the stamp kit and paint are reusable.

Initially, I dipped the stamps into the paint directly, but that resulted in too much paint and my ghosts ended up looking like blobs. Instead, I found it worked better to dip my finger in the paint and spread a thin layer onto the stamp.

The paint did cause the stamps to slip a bit, but I was able to wipe it off easily with a paper towel and reapplied until I was satisfied with the results.

Next, I carefully cut the end off a glow stick and poured it into the jar. A word of caution: don’t try snipping the other end to blow it through, as it creates a mess and leaves a bitter taste in your mouth—trust me, I learned the hard way! Be careful, as the inside of the glow sticks contains glass. I used three bracelets for my jar.

Close the jar tightly and shake it! The glow from the glow sticks is supposed to last up to eight hours, but ours only lasted about an hour.

*** Lessons Learned: ***

After this experience, my husband and I concluded that using glow-in-the-dark paint would have been a smarter option. It would eliminate the need for glow sticks and be reusable. Just paint the inside of the jar, let it dry, and you’re set! Nonetheless, this project turned out super cute!

BUT WAIT… THERE’S MORE!

Ethan and I decided to explore a simpler and less messy variant of the Spooky Glow Jar. This time, we used a jar, glow sticks, and fun “spooky” stickers we found at Dollar Tree.

We covered the jar with creepy foam spider stickers, activated a few glow sticks, curled them up, and sealed the jar.

This option is less messy, glows longer, is reusable, and just as spooky, allowing the kids to unleash their creativity. I also noticed some Halloween-themed lights that could be added for extra flair, but I prefer the quick and easy method of snapping a glow stick and tossing it in.

Ta Da!