This Galaxy jar is fun to look at and to make. An easy craft to make with the kids this summer.
Hello, my name is Amy and I blog at amylanham.com. I love making crafts with my kids. Today we are making a Galaxy jar.
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I’m sure we’ve all seen those beautiful sensory bottles. They claim to calm kids down and they are fun to look at.
If you’ve ever wanted to make one on your own, here’s an easy way.
How To Make a Galaxy Jar
Create this fun Galaxy jar with just a few supplies.
What You Need:
Here’s what you’ll need from the store. The exact amounts are in the printable craft card at the bottom of this post.
Craft Tools Needed:
Supplies Needed:
How to Make a Galaxy Jar Tips
Why Should I Use Cotton Balls
It’s an easy way to keep the colors separated. The cotton balls transfer the liquid slowly. So over time the colors will become muddled. But it will take a couple of days.
This makes for a really cool looking galaxy bottle.
How to Get Labels Off Water Bottles
The labels can be hard to get off. It’s easiest to use a water bottle that has a label that can be cut off.
But if you already have one that has a label that is stuck on, it’s still possible to get it off. Run hot water over the label as you pull and try to pull in slowly without stopping.
This should allow the sticker to come off without any residue being left on the bottle.
Use a Smaller Bottle
The bottles I picked were way too big. It took around 200 cotton balls and lots of watered down paint.
A smaller bottle will be easier to fill and take less supplies. It will still look great!
It was also hard to arrange the cotton balls together that were at the bottom of the bottle.
Use Acrylic Paint
I tried washable paint at first, and it just wasn’t giving me the color saturation I wanted. Acrylic paint is definitely the way to go.
Chunky Glitter Works Best
My motto is always: Use what you have! But chunky glitter does work best. I had glitter glue and glitter paint.
They both look fine, the glitter paint had some larger chunks and that looks better. But again, use what you have and it’s going to work great.
Use a Funnel
I didn’t have one and so we used medicine syringes. This was fun at first, but it took a very long time.
I would do a combination. The kids will have fun using both the syringe and pouring into a funnel. And it won’t take as long.
Arranging the Cotton Balls
I used a pencil to smash the cotton balls together. It helped make sure they were fully saturated and allowed me to add more cotton balls in.
But it also means the liquid doesn’t move when tipped over. If you want something that the liquid moves, definitely use less cotton balls.
If the liquid moves though, it will make the colors muddle quicker. It just depends on what you want.
Other Ideas for the Galaxy Jar
I think these would make really fun ‘I Spy’ bottles. Add in beads with letters, tiny figurines, or other items. The cotton balls would keep everything in place and it would be fun to look around the bottle and try to find everything.
Galaxy Jar
Equipment
- Paint Cups One for each color
- 1 Medicine Syringes
- 1 small funnel
Ingredients
- 1 Water Bottle
- 200 Cotton Balls
- Paint any color, we used blue, pink, purple, black
- Water
- Pom Poms
- Glitter
Instructions
- Clean out a water bottle and remove label.
- Add a glob of paint to a paint cup and then mix with water. If using acrylic paint, one tablespoon of paint to about one cup of water. Mix all the paint you are using before starting.
- Start filling the bottom of the water bottle with cotton balls. Stuff 8-10 cotton balls in, then add watered down paint in the color of your choosing. We used blue, black, purple, and pink for our galaxy bottles.
- Add glitter and/or colorful Pom Poms.
- Then add more cotton balls and more watered down paint in a different color to the last color.
- Continue layering cotton balls, watered down paint, glitter, and Pom Poms until reaching the top of the bottle.Top with water.
- Seal the top and enjoy!
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What’s Next?
If you enjoyed this Galaxy jar then you’ll enjoy these other sensory and upcycle crafts too.
More Upcycle Crafts
If you enjoyed this Galaxy then you will love these upcycle craft ideas:
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