Glow jars

We like making glow jars for Christmas and birthday presents. For the best effect, you need the right paint. Strontium aluminate based glow-in-the-dark paints are far brighter than the kinds you can find in most local craft or hardware stores.

You can buy ready-made paints or glow powder to mix into a transparent paint or glaze. I bought a sampler of 6 paints from Glonation. If you search "strontium aluminate glow paint," you'll find several glow paint companies.

Glonation's paints are water-based and become rubbery and stretchy rather quickly. If you're working with stencils--say, for a painting on a wall or ceiling--you have to remove the pattern almost immediately, otherwise the paint will peel off with the pattern.

The green is the brightest and longest-lasting color, followed by aqua. If you only can buy two colors, go with these two. The blue and the violet are also nice. On the other hand, the white and orange hardly show up at all.

We bought an assortment of glass jars and pots at a thrift store. Dab thick dots of paint onto the inside of the container, and you're done! I found that you get plumper beads of paint if you use a wooden barbeque skewer rather than a paintbrush to apply the paint. 

I'd LOVE to paint my bike like this night bike!