Pinterest-Inspired Crafting: A Calm Jar
I have found a new site to suck up all my productivity and glaze over my eyes with daydreams of crafts, kitchen remodels, and new wardrobes… I am referring to Pinterest, of course. After a few months of pinning crafts to my boards, my best friend and I decided to test some out. AND we took pictures.
You will need:
- Mason Jar or baby food jar – cleaned out naturally
- *We used 32 oz. mason jars, so adjust accordingly for amounts
- Craft glitter – 3 pouches (roughly 1/2 tbsp each)
- Glitter Glue – 1.8 fl oz. (we used a full bottle for each mason jar)
- Hot Water
To Make a Calm Jar:
- Lay all of your supplies out – I realize that may seem silly in a simple project like this but trust me – nothing sucks the fun out of a craft project faster than realizing you forgot a needed item.
-
If you are making more than one Calm Jar, then separate out the colored glue and glitters you want to use in each jar.
- Boil water, microwave water – in our case we used the “hot water” function on my coffee maker – you just need hot water to break down the glitter glue. Add the water to the mason jar.
- Add desired amount and color of glitter to the mason jar.
- Add a small jar of glitter glue to the mason jar.
- Stir vigorously. *Now, I think this step is important – once the jar is completed you will use it by shaking it like a snow globe (not a polaroid picture), but while in the creation stage still I recommend using something to stir and break up the glitter glue completely. We used a long metal BBQ skewer, but if you don’t have those (why not?!) I think a fork would work fine.
- Seal tightly. *This is another important step. As my best friend said, “it’s *glitter* we need that jar sealed like a submarine.” Valid point. We didn’t take the extra measure of pressure-sealing it – just make sure the lid is screwed on really, really tightly.
- Shake and Enjoy! The time it takes the glitter to swirl and settle back at the bottom of the jar is supposed to be enough time to calm a toddler’s outburst or calm an adult’s fried nerves (whether or not the two are directly related).
Our first Pinterest-Inspired craft was a success. Stay-tuned for more!
So cool! My kids would totally love this.
Mine ask me multiple times a day to get it down from the shelf so they can watch the “glitter magic.” It’s pretty cute.
Forget the kids, I want one!
Oh, I have one that I keep in my bedroom that’s just for me – I need it more than them I think!
Tried making these today and all the glitter is a solid mass at the bottom! No amount of shaking will loosen it. Why do you need glitter glue. Why not just glitter? This was a big waste of time & materials
I am sorry it did not work out for you – I have made dozens of them in the past year or so and aside from the occasional glitter spill in the kitchen, they’ve all worked out. I just used a simple craft glue from the craft store, were you using something thicker or more like a glaze?
That is so cool! I love snow globes, but all mine either died or got broken, so I’m going to make one of these.
Let me know how they turn out!
So pretty and whimsical! I should try this one out. Thanks for sharing this!
You are welcome! We just made a few more this weekend:)
SO… you are saying to give this to a child to calm him/her down while he/she may be angry…mad…throwing a fit? I can see it being thrown to the ground and being glass..not sure i would want to take that chance..
Thinking a clear plastic….not as nice for sure…but…
I thought the same thing – I haven’t used it to calm a full blown toddler tantrum, but if there are any sibling fights occurring I use it to separate – maybe pull one aside and we sit down and look at the jar and it gives enough pause to change the subject or shift their mood a bit. I don’t let them take it off into another room alone because I don’t have any desire to clean glitter and shards of glass off the floor (or walls;).
I love the idea of using a plastic jar…maybe an old mayonaise jar would work well – or peanut butter jar. Great idea!
Oooh Peanut Butter jars! Lord knows I have a ton of those!
I am an elementary teacher and I love the idea of having one of these in my classroom. I was worried about a child throwing it across the room or at another student, so I had the same idea as you and made it with a peanut butter jar. While not as fancy as glass, it works very well and is MUCH safer in the classroom. Good luck!
@Fourformom: hehehe …not funny…but exactly…definitly would not be fun to clean up!
For sure, and you couldn’t make them help you clean this mess up either! I think I might try the peanut butter jar. I like the idea of the baby food jars too – still breakable – but easier for little hands to manage (and maybe stay on the carpet and not on the tile while handling:).
My son had one in a water bottle from day care (school) that we kept for years. Until he decided to see what a thumb tack would do to it. It wasn’t a calming jar per say, but it worked. We wobn’t be out of PB for awhile, so I might try it with the water bottle again.
A water bottle is a great alternative to the glass jars. Anything plastic that you could super glue the lid on would work:)
I used a plastic jar of karo syrup and added about 6-8 marbles. Hot glue the top on then wrap the lid with colorful duct tape. It is relaxing watching the marbles float to the bottom. I use this in my 4 year old preschool class. Cool to look at it with a flashlight against the bottom too.
I love that! I am going to try that and pass it on to my daughter’s teacher. Thanks:)
In the glitter jar I made with my daughters, all the glitter I added just clumped up and floated on the top. Any suggestions? Where did you get your glitter? My dollar store stuff just didn’t seem to do the trick.
Was the water near boiling when you added it? And did you whisk it all up. I would think if it clumped then maybe it was the glitter glue that was the issue? I bought mine at the craft store. I wonder if yours was just a bad batch? I would definitely try it again – it is worth it:) Let me know how it goes!
I just made one and I actually love it, I’m going to keep it in my bedroom. Thank you for sharing this
I am so glad you did! I keep making them for gifts and they are always a big hit!
I made one but saw some glow in the dark glitter glue and added this as well as using blue glitter glue and purple glitter may of added to much purple glitter but with the glow in the dark glue in it I think it will still be neat
I have got to try this glow-in-the-dark glitter!
I am 15 and I saw this and thought it would be a great way to help calm me down when my little brothers start to drive me crazy. I love how pretty it is and maybe it might brighten up my day
Thank you for sharing, they are very nice.
You are very welcome! I am 32, and I have one for myself and have given many as gifts to my adult friends!
Your calm jar looks great. I experimented with this project to get different results. I added some gylcerin to make the particles flow more freely. I used small fruit juice containers They are the perfect size for little hands and no worry about breakage. I super glued the tops so there is no spillage. I used boiling water and a whisk to mix the glue and water.
I am making a bunch for my teacher friends and plan to use this with my kindergarteners. I’m sure the little ones will be shaking the jar additional times just to watch the beautiful floating particles.
I have some elderly neighbors who love using the jar when one frustrates the other.
It’s just a great conversation piece, too.
Hope my suggestions are useful to you all.
Happy shaking!!
I love the idea of using plastic jars (AND super-gluing the lids). I think I will have to make some for my twins’ preschool teachers. Thanks for reading!
I made one last night using a plastic wine bottle, the small cooking size ones. I used one cup of water. Since it was plastic I did not want to add the boiling water to the bottle itself until cool. So I heated the water on the stove in a stainless steel pot (non-porous) and a wood spoon (that I did not care about. I added a small tube of glitter glue and stored constantly until all the clumps went away. The glue broke down into little clumps and I just kept storing until all were melted. It took several minutes. I didn’t add any extra glitter, but I did add a second tube of glitter glue thinking it needed more glitter. There is plenty now. I poured the cooled down mixture into the jar with a funnel. It didn’t fill the jar completely, which was good because it allowed me to add small amounts of water to the pan to swish around any extra glitter that was still in there and get it all into the bottle. I plan on gluing the lid on per antsy, but right now my 22 month old son cannot unscrew lids. He loves it and walks around with it. I use it for diaper changes because he fights me with those. Seems to have helped so far.
Great idea! And I wish I had thought of these back when mine were in diapers. Highly recommend gluing on the lid at some point;)
Why gitter-glue for coloring the water and not food coloring?
Oil could be neat in it too…
I think food coloring could work – but the glitter glue helps thicken it.
Ah, okay.
I have this squeeze ball with a powder in it, when you squeeze it the powder swirls around and creates this milky-way, metallic effect, and after a while the powder separates from the liquid and goes back to settling on the bottom. I wish I knew what the powder was since it would probably be a great addition to this jar as well.
Here’s a pic of it both before and after squeezing it: http://i.imgur.com/pEay1.jpg
I love the Calming Jar idea!!! I’m thinking a good strong waterproof glue to seal the lid on the jar? Kids are notorious for figuring out how to open things. If a child got this open, lordy, lordy, what a mess.
Thank you! And I agree – take every precaution necessary to make sure you don’t have a glitter-related accident:)
Okay, we have a two litter bottle with water, glitter, and a few beads in it. We use it as a time out tool. I gives him something to focus on and calm down but it only last 30 seconds to a minuet. How long do these last????
He is never really ready to talk with what we have right now.
How long do the bottles last? Mine still work great after months. Or how long do the tantrums and time outs last?
How old is your son?
“How long do the bottles last? Mine still work great after months. Or how long do the tantrums and time outs last? How old is your son?” Natalie
He is 5 and we are hoping for a 5 minuet time that he can watch. One that is not a clock. He gets bored and refuses to do the time out unless he can see either the clock or the bottle.
We have had him peal paint off the wall, tare up the cousin on the timeout chair, and he has even hide a knife into his room and cut up the mattress just to keep his hands busy.
FYI he is the middle of five and we think he might be adhd not sure yet.
My 5 year old has a temper for sure and every child is different, so I can’t speak on how to handle your child
but I have noticed that now that she is almost 6, the tantrums have eased and the temper – she responds much better to me when I don’t lose my cool (easier said than done). I always ask my pediatrician for advice – she often has great new approaches to try. And my kids think the jars are more than just for “calming” as well:) Good luck!
Boys are so active. I know mine are. When my boys are especially crazy I don’t sit them in a quiet time out, I send them out for physical activity. I tell them “Go do twenty jumping jacks in the driveway and then run back in the house” or “Run around all the trees in the front yard ten times as fast as you can”. When my husband is home he keeps them busy with outdoor chores and that makes a big difference in attitudes and behaviors when they come in the house for school that afternoon.
I agree with this – sometimes making them “sit still” in time out doesn’t work at all. I will take them (or the offender;) outside or in a different room, change the activity – what have you – and then when they are calm, we discuss the behavior.
sorry we have had the bottle about a week other then the bottem getting beat up and it not standing just right any more I have had my 2 year old drop it down the stairs and not break open yet. all the kids think it is a toy. lol
I made mine into a toy on purpose. I used the confetti glitter that had different shapes and characters cut out so the kids could use it like an iSpy toy. As long as they aren’t fighting with eachother I’m happy!
What kind of glitter did you use? I have tried 3 different kinds of glitter and it all seems to float to the top instead of sinking.
I used a combo of glitter glue and just basic craft glitter from the craft store. The trick is the hot water to break it down when you first add it and mix vigorously. What kind of glitter did you use?
I love this idea, it’s pretty and I want to try it!
Aww thanks! It really is a great tool to calm kids down, and it calms me down;) I still get requests to make them for friends.
Me and my mum are making one together this afternoon
I found the link to this on Tumblr and we think it’d be great to help me calm down instead of self harming. Thank you for posting the instructions as we weren’t sure how to make one
I am so happy to hear this! Quite a few people in my eating disorder support group have asked for the tutorial (or me just to make them one) for the same reasons. I hope it helps!
I used blue, silver, green and multi colored glitter glue and then blue and silver regular glitter the water is blue and I’m curious as if the water will clear out??:/
Well, it won’t ever be completely clear and the water will take on a kind of opaque color of whichever color glitter glue you decide to use. Hope this helps! Let me know how it works out.
LOVE this presentation! thanks so much! I re blogged you
My students love doing these!
Oh great! Thank you for sharing!
I cannot wait to make one of these…I babysit a little girl that is autistic and I think this would be a great helpful way to calm her down when she has an outburst…and I will most likely end up making one for myself too haha. Thank you so much for this project!
this really helped me when i felt like cutting my self, when i felt depressed, etc..
I’m glad it helped:) Many people in my Eating Disorders Anonymous group found it helpful as well. Very soothing.
I’m looking forward to making a couple of these for my 9 year old Aspie Daughter. And quite possibly one of her frazzled Mummy… I’m thinking plastic jars & super glue for the lid. Thanks for the detailed instructions
You are very welcome! And definitely make one for yourself as well;) I love mine.
I just made two of these and I used Gatorade bottles. The plastic seemed more durable than a plain water bottle. I made one in pink and one in blue. Thank you for the wonderful idea. I really hope this calms my 2 1/2 year old as she throws quite the temper tantrum and needs redirection, I’m hoping this does the trick!
I hope it works for you too! And the gatorade bottle is a great idea – thanks for sharing:)
One helpful hint, if your glitter always floats to the top, put the glitter glue in the bottom and then mix in the glitter before adding the very hot water and whisking. It helps keep it from floating up, I think because it get coated with the glue first.
I made them as teacher gifts… and several for my self. I shake mine up and put them in a line, and it helps settle me when I am having a panic attack.
I use them for my panic attacks too
Thanks for sharing your tip – I know some people have had issues with that.