Faux FIREFLIES In a Jar - Big Big Forums

mentalmom · 05-17-2005, 10:10 AM

FIREFLIES IN A JAR

I received a gift-catalog yesterday in the mail with
novelties and unusual gift ideas, and in this catalog
was a Faux Firefly jar. Well this got me to thinking
about how to make a fun craft with your
kids.

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Faux FIREFLIES In a Jar

What you will need:

Clear, small jar with lid (Glass mason or plastic
(like the grated parmesan cheese containers) as long
as you can see through it)

Black pipe cleaner (or black bread ties)

Clear plastic wrap

Yellow glow-in-the-dark paint (can get in the craft
section of most stores)

Scissors and Glue

Styrofoam tray for drying (paper-plate, wax-paper, or
even foil will also work)

What To Do:

1. For each firefly you are going to make/cut a 1
1/2-inch piece of black pipe cleaner (or bread tie)
for the body.

2. Cut a 1-inch square piece of plastic wrap for the
wings.

3. Fold a piece of pipe cleaner in half over the
center of the square plastic wrap. Gather the plastic
wrap at the center so that it spreads out on each side
of the folded pipe cleaner to form wings.

4. Twist the two sides of the pipe cleaner around each
other to secure the wings and form the back of the
body.

5. Squeeze a small amount of glow-in-the-dark paint on
the Styrofoam paperplate. Dip the two ends of the pipe
cleaner at the back of the body in the paint then
carefully lean it on the edge of the tray. Dip the end
of all your fireflies in the paint.

(I decided to brush the "Glow-in the Dark" Paint onto
the plastic wrap wings instead)

After the paint dries, you can either attach the
fireflies on the inside of the jar with glue or/

I wanted them to have the moving/live affect, so I
threaded a thin string through each dragonfly (hanging
about 2 or 3 to one string) and attached the top of
the strings to the inside of the lid of the jar, to
give it the wind-chime affect.

For a more "authentic" look, you can poke some air
holes in the jar's lid. I even made a wire handle and
attached it to the top of the lid so the jar could be
hung-up. Also adding a few small twigs to the bottom
of the jar makes it look even more real. Keep your
jar inside near light, so when the lights are out…the
fireflies will glow.

Here are a few good sites on Fireflies in case you use this craft idea as an educational tool:
http://iris.biosci.ohio-state.edu/projects/FFiles/
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/...ct/firefly.htm
http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/...fireflies.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question554.htm
Firefly Game:
http://www.microprizes.com/mp54.htm

wyozozo · 05-17-2005, 12:27 PM

What a cool idea....THANK YOU!

impatient · 05-17-2005, 03:41 PM

This is so cool!! with summer coming I need all the craft ideas i can get.
My son just cleaned up his bug containers and started "hunting" yesterday. He'll love this one!

Thanks so much!

mentalmom · 05-17-2005, 06:12 PM

You are all so very welcome!!
We homeschool, so my son and I enjoyed making this today also. He even came up with an idea to get a small strand of Christmas white twinkle lights, and twisting the black pipe cleaners around them to make the lights look like bugs and placing them in a jar. We have not actually tried this yet...still working out the bugs! LOL

***buttrfli*** · 05-24-2005, 09:07 PM

that is such a great idea! I wonder if I would be able to use glow in the dark beads on the pipcleaners instead of the glue?

mentalmom · 05-25-2005, 07:55 AM

buttrfli

I betcha the glow in the dark beads would be great for this project....thanks for the idea!