Pulling back the curtains, you step out of the daylight and into a strange curiosity shop. It’s dimly lit and quite dusty inside. On the shelves, you see all manner of strange items. Taxidermied creatures, occult books, strangely carved motifs…A jar in the back catches your eye. You approach it, trying to determine what is floating in the murky water it contains. As your peer into it’s depths…a pair of pickled eyes peer back at you!

Have you ever been fascinated by specimen jars and what they contain? Now you can create your own for decoration!

Supplies:

  • Creepy items to bottle (I used cheap plastic Halloween decorations from Dollar Store)
  • empty glass jars with lids
  • dish soap
  • hydrogen peroxide
  • glow sticks
  • food coloring
  • disposable measuring cup (I cut up an empty gallon jug)
  • disposable cup
  • craft stick
  • disposable gloves
  • X-ACTO knife (or very sharp scissors)

Instructions:

1. Pick a jar that your items will mostly fill up. Fill your empty jar with water almost to the top and pour it into the disposable measuring cup.

2. Put on your disposable gloves and grab a disposable cup. Take a glow stick and bend to activate it. Carefully cut the end of the glow stick and pour the contents into the cup, trying to keep any glass from spilling into the cup. Then, pour it into the measuring cup, again trying to avoid any glass.

3. Pour a cap full of hydrogen peroxide and a squirt of dish soap into the measuring cup.

Add a drop of food coloring as desired. Use the craft stick (or any disposable stirrer) to gently stir the contents together.

4. Arrange your items into the empty jar then pour the contents of the measuring cup into the jar. Close the lid.

Ta-da! Specimen jar! Set it in the dark for a better effect. If you have a black light, see how that affects the glow! I found that using brighter glow stick colors, like yellow or green, had a better look. If I could re-do my jars, I would pick items that were less likely to float and smaller jars to fit the items better.

Happy spooky decorating!

Contributed by Witchy
Witchy (aka Zoe) is a level 33 nerd who frequently tries to find ways to make life like a fantasy-inspired RPG. She loves video games, making crafts and living that witch life. She lives in Pennsylvania with her cat Luna. Find her on Instagram at @sweet_zoetato or on Twitter at @whoahZoe.