Sooooo… I have a three-year-old little girl who is full of drama. Probably not the only one in history, but one of my current dilemmas. When time out time comes for bad behaviour I find myself with a little girl on the bottom step screaming, kicking walls and not able to even calm down enough to learn her lesson. This was getting worse and worse until I told my husband, “there has to be a better way, I’m going to research this.” So I went online and read other mom’s advice, dr’s advice, psychologist’s advice, etc. Nothing was really working. Finally I saw something called a mind jar. This was a mason jar filled with water, clear gel glue and ultra fine glitter. You shake it and the glitter settles slowly as you watch you relax. The original ones I saw were to teach children to meditate (not my goal). I loved the idea of getting Bella to focus on something else and relax. Then I saw on Pinterest that some moms were using it as a timer for time out also. Genius! So I didn’t have to watch the clock or set a timer, and it would calm my Bella. Well, I did not like that it was a glass jar (she is three, and who gives a three-year-old glass?).
So I found a water bottle (Smart water was the brand) that was totally smooth and not too big around for little hands to hold.
I removed the label with goo gone (it was very sticky under that label)
Next I filled each bottle with about 3/4 (* edit 5-3-12, I used hot water so that the glue “melted” better… room temp or cold will cause it to stay separate) water, an entire bottle of glitter glue and a small tube of ultra fine glitter. I kept playing with the mixture until the glitter settled at about 5 min. I added more clear gel glue to make it go slower or more water to make it settle faster. Then I had my sweet husband (who knows when I handle glue I tend to glue body parts together accidentally) to super glue the lids on. Another thing I didn’t like about the mind jars I saw, the mason jars were not glued shut and knowing my kids they would just open them and spill or drink them (glue and glitter… not something I want my kids drinking). Here are the finished jars.
Here is one settled and one in the beginning stages of settling…
Here is one of the bottle half settled at 2 1/2 minutes and the other totally settled. Sorry they are purple and pink, those are my girl’s favorite colors (right now) but you can make them with any color glitter. I’m sure blue, purple or green ones would be really cute too.
Here are some of the products I used to make them.
Now time out in my house looks more like this….. and I love it
While making these Eric and I were amazed at how relaxing they are even to us! I think I want one, can I go to time out please? 🙂
*****UPDATE***** If you like this project you will LOVE the glow in the dark version Stars and Toothbrushes found here!
Thanks for stopping by!
Johanna
My Crazy Blessed Life! 
This is genius! I’m gonna remember this when my sweet one is older. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, I made this today, and they are gorgeous! It took me quite a bit of shaking to melt the glue chunks because I mixed the ingredients in the bottle. Whoops!
******NOTE FOR MOMS WITH BOYS (or people who just think of choosing this color):*****
I made one blue bottle and one orange bottle. The orange bottle just looks like orange soda, so you may want to choose another color. The blue, on the other hand, turned out great and very pretty!! I also, for some reason, was better able to mix the blue ingredients than the orange.
A little bit of red glitter in the orange bottle would probably make quite a bit of difference.
also try using a mixture of glitter glue that is red and fine glitter in yellow. its turns out to be very 3d looking orange.
I wanted to make a red “Relax Bottle” for my little girl and based on these comments about the orange I decided to put gold and white ultrafine glitter with my red glitter glue. It turned out perfect! It looks like Christmas tree lights and my little Tigger loves it.
One way to get the glue to better mix in is add water to the glue instead of the other way around. By slowly thinning out the glue you will never have chunks.
So, is it one bottle of glue glitter, 1 jar of ultra fine glitter and 1 bottle of clear glue per relaxation jar?
She didn’t heat the water for five minutes. She heated it until it was warm, and experimented with the amount of glue until the glitter took five minutes to settle. ” I kept playing with the mixture until the glitter settled at about 5 min.” This whole subthread is a result of careless reading.
How much of each(glitter, clear glue) is needed for 1 ?
I made one of these bottles (in green) for my little boy yesterday. These would be my suggestions. Use VERY hot water. I measured out the water I was going to need, poured it in my large pyrex measuring cup and heated it in the microwave for about 5 minutes. It didn’t boil, but was close. Then, I added everything into the measuring cup and then poured it (using a funnel) into the bottle. After adding the glitter glue it didn’t seem like it was “melting,” just stayed clumpy. So, I found a wire whisk to be just the think to quickly break it up. My little guy is getting the hang of his “settle down” bottle, and my husband is totally mesmerized.
Five minutes?! Unless it was a LOT of water, heating water that hot in a microwave by itself can be very dangerous! There are typically no ‘boiling-bubbles’ in a microwave, however the water can be superheated (meaning OVER 100 degrees F) while the container may not even seem hot. All it takes is some sort of trigger for bubbles to form and let boiling commence. Use caution, or add something as simple as a wooden spoon or a stir stick to virtually eliminate the possibility of a superheated explosion. (see http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave.asp)
You should be very careful microwaving water for that long, this is dangerous advice. Water can be “superheated” to actually exceed 100c in a microwave and still not “boil”, but become extremely unstable when you take it out or it comes in contact with anything.
water can only be super heated if its purified water normal drinking water will boil in microwave while purified water will not until a reacting agent is added to make it unstable
Snowball, I have had tapwater superheat in the microwave. As soon as I opened the door, it “whooshed” out of the microwave. Other times it has boiled over when adding an ingredient to it so people should still be very careful.
I think she said that she heated the water in the pyrex measuring cup, not the bottle.
Snowball, you’re incorrect. Even coffee can become superheated. Purified water is just easier to superheat.
Yes, Snowball, I have to agree with the other people. My 13 year old burnt herself pretty badly two weeks ago because she microwaved water, and then when she touched the cup, it suddenly “bumped” and splashed boiling water all over her arm. It was tap water, and I can assure you that none of the dishes in my house (which are mostly washed by my children, or at least put into the dishwasher by my children–where they get hard water deposits left all over them) are super-duper clean.
You don’t heat the water for 5 mins (you use warm water to mix the glue better). The 5 mins she was talking about is the time it takes the glitter to settle to the bottom.
Ok guys people have been microwaving water for years. She didn’t say she left it forever just that she heated it for a few minutes and it wasn’t boiling. You guys just jumped on her. She’s an adult not a child. Don’t correct her like one. It’s her family and microwave.
Be very careful if you heat the water, whether in a teakettle, on stove, or microwave to let it cool down to merely warm, or no hotter than you could put your hand into before pouring the mix into the bottles. Plastic bottles shrink, melt, and deform if the water is boiling or near boiling. I discovered this the hard way pouring a pitcher of near boiled water into a large plastic whey powder bottle to melt sugar into syrup for several small hive of bees. The first few times it worked great, then the last time the water was a little hotter, and HUGE sticky mess of hot syrup all over. Years later I deformed a regular 2 liter soda bottle at a (childless) friends house, while trying to show her easy it is to make a toasty footwarmer/foot of the bed warmer from one. (The water heater at her home was set much higher than it is at our place.)
Sandy, you should read the top of this comment thread. Terri said she microwaved water for 5 minutes. That’s what everyone’s talking about.
Tap water generally has enough sediment in it that it will not superheat or explode. The explosion from superheated water that everyone here is posting about is usually in regards to distilled water because it’s been purified and there aren’t any contaminants in it to form bubbles. All you really need to do if you’re using distilled water or if you’re concerned about any kind of water superheating without releasing bubbles is to put a chopstick in the water before you pop it in the microwave.
Alright. I went to a vocational school for biotechnology for two years, and since hot plates didn’t do the job fast enough, we usually microwaved water we needed, whether it be for making an agar mixture, needing to suspend something that reacts to high temperatures, or for any other reason we may have had. Depending on the situation, we either used distilled or tap water. Both of my teachers had us wait until the water boiled before we used it, and it usually took 7-10 minutes (and the wattage was pretty good, even). None of my fellow classmates were big on cooking, but I was–and I could tell that the water was beyond the level of scalding that water just starting to boil should ever be. And ironically enough, suspension experiments that required nuking the water usually failed, unless it was done with the hot plate (indicating that whatever we had to suspend probably denatured from the intense heat).
Of course, there was no way to change the fact that we had less than 2 hours for the day, but the point is is that any water, purified or not, is equally likely to result in this.
Warning. Always place a stick, such as a wooden chop stick. Your water was above the boiling point and you would have, were lucky not to have an over boil
Can you use normal glue (white) or will that ruin it? Love this idea for my classroom!
I have not used white glue… So I’m not for sure but I doubt it would work the same way.
It will ruin it! I tried because that’s all I had on hand and couldn’t wait to make these! You could barely see the glitter because of the white, and it was way too runy.
you can use white glue. If you do all you have to do is add some food coloring i did this with a blue one and it started gray but adding four drops of blue will make a huge and amazing difference!
I didn’t have any clear gel glue at home & wanted to make them right away. I used clear hair gel & it worked well. I think clear corn syrup would also work, but we had the brown kind. You still need to whisk it up with hot water just like the original recipe.
All you need to do to keep the water from exploding when you remove it from the microwave is to heat it with a wooden toothpick floating in it. I do this ALL the time and it works.
I used the white Elmer’s glue and food coloring, the “colored water” never settled just the glitter did to the bottom of the bottle. so we had a yellow water with gold glitter bottle, a blue-green water with blue and green glitter bottle, a pink water with pink glitter bottle… you can see the glitter, but the water never cleared up; it stayed a milky color throughout the bottle (over 2 hours now and still not settling) so we tried it with a glow in the dark glitter glue and an irridescent gold glitter and the water and it turned out AMAZING… I am going back to find more glow in the dark glitter glue so we can use different colors of glitter in the instead of the milky colors of the Elmers bottles. thanks for the awesome idea.. my girls havent fought all day but they are still playing with their relaxation bottles!
How about clear Elmer’s school glue?
Hi! I love this idea and have used your “recipe” to make my own for my kids! I also just featured it on my blog! Check it out if you like! http://www.themommytalks.com/fun-with-sensory-bottles/
What a great idea! Thank you so much for posting this! I just made 2 of these for my 2-year-old… they are sure to be a big hit. Thank you again for sharing your wonderful idea! 🙂
can we use normal glue not transparent
It won’t look as nice. I haven’t done it but other readers let me know
What a great idea thank you for sharing I will be making one of these for my son for sure!!!
I am going to use this for my FASD child of 9. She has a hard time focusing and when she gets into her “fits” I feel this would be a perfect way to refocus her and forget about screaming and kicking etc. Thank you for this idea.
Hi David just wondering how this worked for your child? I have a little guy that also struggles he is three so am curious how it went?
My son is on the Autism Spectrum, and my first thought on seeing this post is that it would have been a great addition to calming devices used in his school (and of course, at home). Wish I had had this idea when all my kids were younger!
Thank you. The cool down period to clear the mind and the air has been a little tricky with I am ready NOW 28seconds after it started… I have tried a few things but none had the refocussing effect I was looking for… This method almost ensures that a “reshape” will occur and will reinforce the time out as a positive solution to communication breakdown as a reset 🙂
What a great idea. Calmness, glitter, and purple/pink all in one. Brilliant! That does look relaxing. Thank you for posting that. I have friends with wild boys. They would love that idea.
Not a parent… BUT this is so very cool.. I wish I had something like this when i was a kid.. would have been better than the temper tantrums, and all the other things that went along with growing up in the 70’s & 80’s
I call my lil one My Sweet One too 🙂 we love this song. thought I would share.
Making my Relax bottle for her tonight!
This is a wonderful idea! I am going to pass along to a client of mine who looks for the best resources for autistic children. But I have one other comment – you said your purpose was not for meditation. But if the children are focusing on one thing – the glitter falling – and the result is calming their minds, they ARE meditating. Meditation is a positive exercise for anyone.
This is brilliant! Not sure how much my 7 year old son will enjoy it, but it’s definitely worth a shot! I find this incredibly interesting because my son has behavioural problems (he’s violent without noticeable provocation and has a hard time deescalating), and we’ve taken him to a certain OT that used a similar method. She took a jar of water and mud, and shook it to resemble his anger, and as he settled down, so too did the dirt – and ended up separating. Anyway, just wanted to share, and say thanks for this post!
How much of each item is used & what glitter glue product works best… I tried this & it did not come out like that! It got very ‘foamy’ looking at the top & didn’t really settle at all… I’m thinking maybe I’d didn’t proportion right… suggestions…
I had the same problem. I used Creatology glitter glue from Michael’s. The first one, I pulled the top off the glitter glue so that I could get it in to the water quickly to dissolve- it stayed in chunks no matter how much I shook it, and I had the same problem with the foam. I don’t think the issue was the water temperature, because I had it so hot I couldn’t even touch it. The second one, I thought maybe if I added the glitter glue more slowly, it would dissolve and I wouldn’t have the issue of big chunks, but all I ended up were little wormy looking threads of glitter glue instead, and the same issue with the foam. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to go buy more supplies to try again, or just give up!
Love this idea. Just made them. Can’t wait to try them out on my girls.
Love this–I use a version of this (along with the childrens book Moody Cow Meditates & others by same author) in my childrens play therapy practice & show the moms when they pick up–but appreciate your improvements of glue & glueing lid securely! Thanks! Pam Burns-Clair, MFT, Sonoma, CA
My 9yo DD will love this! I’m waiting until she gets home so she can pick the glitter color. Pinning it under SPD. Thanks!
Just got my Smart Water bottle last night!!! Genius! Love it! Thank you so much.
We’re making these for our MOPS group next week. Such a great idea and goes great with our theme of “Self-Control.” I was wondering how much of the clear gel tacky glue you used for the 5 min. bottle. Just trying to estimate to be sure I have enough for our group.
Thank you!
I used about one small bottle of glitter glue, then added some ultra fine loose glue and the would twist on the cap and time it adding plain clear gel glue a little at a time until I got 5 min. Hope that helps! I’m glad you like it 🙂
I am going to do this for my 4yr old and 15yr old!!! I have some in between those ages that will use it too, but those are the ones that need it most. :o) Especially my 15yr old daughter, she has mood disorders (mix of a bunch of different things) and she really needs something she can focus on when angry. Thank you, Thank you!!!
I was planning on making one for my niece and myself. My niece is 10 years old but has many anger issues and behavioral issues. She has therapists that go to my mother’s house to try and help her find other ways (instead of hitting and pulling hair), to place her anger. They have suggested she hit a pillow and some other things but I know she would enjoy this and think it might help. I am going to make one, well two of these this weekend. My mother would probably enjoy having another alternative and I want one for my home, for myself.
Hi Bridget,
I have the stuff to make 2 of these. I think I might take your lead and make another one for myself. I think this might help with my Anxiety Disorder. I can never concentrate long enough to do the meditative breathing that my therapist taught me 🙂
I have an 8 year old that has Aspergers and my self I am bipolar I think I will one to see how he does with it then may make several from there!!
Jamie, when I saw your post, I smiled, because I’m making one for an adult with Asperger’s (he’s my SO,) and one for myself (I have mixed bipolar.) Great minds think alike! I’m making one for each of us.
they believe my niece (3yrs) has some form of autism or an auditory problem but can’t competely figure it out. she doesn’t talk or really pay attention to much people but she loves shiny stuff and pink and blue are the colors she goes for the most so i was going to try to make two in those colors not for management problems but just because i know she will love to shake them up and watch them settle.
LOVE this idea for home AND school:) Thank you!
Hmmm maybe I need one for me. They are so pretty. I hate stress. Even adults need a time out! Great job! What a good mom you are!
these are fantastic, I have a son who is just starting law school, He no longer *gets* not say DOESN’T need TIME out LOL but, has a VERY difficult time relaxing at times.. I think he’d LOVE to play with these, to get his mind off stuff.. I’m making one today.. (as an easter present for him) THANKS for this great IDEA. 😀
I love this idea, it helps the child manage her time out, not the adult! Thanks for the idea!
I an so gonna try this tomorrow
Love IT! I was just trying to figure out a way to deal with my 3 yr old last night, Thanks!
Love this idea! I have some in my classroom made from about a half cup of clear Karo syrup, glitter, glitter confetti and food coloring. Kids calm down as they watch the different shaped confetti slide down. Hot glue the top on it. Hint: use a small bottle like this lady did. Two liter bottles are pretty, but hurt when kids throw them in mid-fit.
Dose the Karo syrup have the same effect as these with the gentle settling? Dose the food coloring hide the color of the glitter?
I have heard from other readers that the karo syrup does have the same effect but food coloring would make the glitter hard to see.
When I made mine, I put just 1 drop of food coloring and it looks amazing. I made a second one in a smaller bottle and put like 1/2 a drop and Still looks good. Also try using more than one color glitter. Absolutely love the mixture of colors.
Are these the larger Smart Water bottles or the smaller ones?
I used the larger ones.
And about how much of the thick glue do you use?
WOW! This is spectacular! I have a 2.5 year old who is very “free spirited” and also full of drama. Anything and everything can set her off. But she is a smart, energetic, and good girl. I felt bad always plopping her on the steps and leaving her there to throw her tantrum. I believe she will really like this idea. Will let you know how it goes! Thanks so much! If you have any other suggestions for our independent girls, let us know!!
what would you say total cost to make these are?
I’d say around 3$ per bottle or less
I had to buy everything from Hobby Lobby because I did not have them on hand, and it costed me a total that was around $23. Everything (1 bottle of Goo Gone, 2 bottles of glitter, 2 bottles of glitter glue, super glue, and 2 bottles of clear gel tacky glue although I only needed one in the end) was around $3-$4 per item. You would spend less if you had any of the ingredients already, and you would spend half if you only made one time out bottle. I made two. Hope that helps!
You can use WD-40 instead of Goo Gone if you have it at home to remove sticky label. Then just wash with dish soap to remove the grease.
Hey Courtney, Thanks for the idea of WD40!!!
u can find the glitter glue, goo gone and the smart water at the dollar tree! got to love the big saving u can find at the tree!!!!!
As strange as it sounds I use peanut butter to get sticky labels off of things. I just spread it on there and let it sit a few minutes and it works better than Goo Gone in my opinion. Also vegetable oil works well too.
Made these today and I ended up using baby oil to get the glue off and it worked GREAT! I was going to go and pick up the Goo Gone but googled it and that was suggested. The rubbing alcohol didn’t work.
peanut butter worked for me! thanks so much for a natural solution 🙂
I can not handle the smell of Goo Gone. I use 1-2 drops lemon oil (essential oil) let it sit for a couple minutes and it just wipes off (with a great smell too!). The bottles of glitter, glitter glue, and the tacky glue you can get at Wal-Mart too! Also, if they don’t have the tacky glue at Wal-Mart then save a coupon from any of the craft stores (they each take each other’s coupons normally) and you can get them for 40%-50% off. This is why I buy things when they are on sale and just keep them on hand. Also, some Targets have the glitter glue for $1 in their scrapbooking section. I just bought some more the other day. I believe they have ultra fine glitter there too.
This sounds like such a fun idea. I have everything but the water bottle. Now I am going to have to go to Wal-Mart just to get the water bottles. Good thing I LOVE water. Ha ha! I have a few kids that would just love to play with these. My 6 year old talks all the time. I think it might help him take some quiet time. Yay. That sounds great to me! I am on a mission to get these done now! Thank you so much for the fantastic idea!
I used the stain pretreatment spray (like Shout or Resolve) and it got the glue off very well also!
I found a “Penta” water bottle that is smooth, and doesn’t have sticky glue holding the label on. Just one small way to get the cost down…and the effort needed to make it…
I’ll buy all my ingredients at the dollar store.
I found similar water bottles at Aldi and the labels come off much easier. And you’re all right about what to use to take off the label – anything with an oil base – Peanut butter, Vegetable Oil, Baby oil, etc.
I skipped the glitter glue, and just used one bottle of the same kind of clear gel glue pictured in the post for a very large water bottle. I used a combination of a small jar of ultra fine glitter and glow in the dark glitter (yep, that’s a thing – Martha Stewart brand!) I got everything I needed except for the water bottle itself at Michael’s craft store for $15. What a great idea! This was easy to make. Hopefully as mesmerizing for my 3 year old as it is for me. I had no trouble mixxing the water and glue in the bottle; just added the hot water from the tap first, then added in the glitter and glue and shook to mix, then added more water and glue as needed. My only question is whether the glue will get clumpy once the water cools down….
It sounds like a great idea for babysitters too! I’m 21 years old, a college girl right now, and I use to babysit a lot and still do from time to time for family friends. I love kids and I will admit that some kind be a handful when the parents leave..usually parents give me permission to put them in time out..so if I have to put them in time out they tend to do the same thing, they get even more agitated and upset. So I think this is a great thing for babysitters to use as well! Great idea.
It sounds like the lava lamp effect except safer and more portable.
OMG!! If it works half as well I will be impressed! My grandma used to turn on a lava lamp for us kids when we slept over! Kids CANNOT win against the power of the lava!! Good times!
Hi! What a great idea! And I love those colors too. Wish I had thought of that ten years ago when my daughter was that age.
I also wanted to say that my daughters bad tantrums at that age was caused by some foods she was eating. Food coloring (FD&C red 40) for example, and colors made her really angry and cranky. Dairy milk made her super hyper and she could not focus on anything. Once I eliminated these, she was a normal child again, rarely a tantrum after that.
Now, if only the glitter bottle would work magic for the teenage/moody/cranky years 😉
I’m gonna use it for my teenager, hope it works, lol
I was thinking a small discreet one for teenager at school. Did you try it on your teen?
What a fantastic idea!! I found your post on Pinterest! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
love this, I’m wondering which stores carry the clear tacky glue ?
I got mine at hobby lobby
I’ve bought it at Walmart and Michaels
I found it at Walmart
Target
walmart sells it in there craft area
You can also find everything on Amazon
Focusing on something and relaxing IS meditation! And it’s a great skill — nice! These are really pretty — I agree; I want a time out, too. 🙂
Agreed. I was going to say the same thing regarding meditation!! Children might benefit from it being called meditation since they’re able to embrace that as part of their timeout. And when they no longer need ‘timeout’ they can remember the feeling of relaxing and stress relief through their meditation experiences.
I don’t know how hot you had to get your water, but it was almost untouchable for me before the glitter clumps from the glitter glue broke up. My daughter loves hers!
Hot water? Is there another step?
Thank you so much for this idea!!! My daughter and I just made one of these!! We used glow in the dark glitter glue and it turned out really neat!! She loves that it is pink when we are in the light and yellow in the dark!
I just got the items for this today and got the glow in the dark glitter as well. the glitter glue is red and blue together, thought that way its gender neutral, lol. cant wait to try it!
Oh my! Glow in the dark glitter?! Now I want to make one of these for me!
Reblogged this on bflyzone and commented:
I love this idea. As an adult ADHD and Aspie, I approve, and therefor reboot. Thanks a lot.
I was thinking of making these for my kids. One with ASD and the other with ADHD! Great Idea!
This is genius! As a mom of autistic boys, this is exactly what they need…..a distraction, and a relaxing one at that. Thank you!
Wow. A friend posted this on FB and I shared it as well. I am going to do this for my 2 boys (6 & 4). We’ve tried all sorts of techniques and I really like this one. God Bless..
Yours in Christ-
Isabel
I am trying this for my 7 year old with Autsim as well. I think I added too much glitter because there was a bit left on top after 5 minutes. It eventually went to the bottom but, it took quite a while. I think I will try to scoop a little bit of the glitter out.
I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong with these, I have all the items you have, but I can’t get my glitter to last logner then 2 min, and I have these big chuncks of glue throughout the bottle. 😦
I used pretty hot water to get the glue to “melt”… maybe that would help? I mixed pretty well with a wisk also. Note though the settle time of the glitter in hot water was almost doubled at room temp later.
So, did you mix/wisk the water, glitter glue, and loose glitter in a bowl, first, and then pour it into the water bottle, and then add the clear gel glue to modify the settle time?
Yep 🙂 when wisking in the water I used very hot water because it “melted the glue faster”. Side note though hot water settle time is faster than room temp settle time.
You didn’t mention that in the original post, so mine was all mixed in the bottle and not with hot water so its just a big clump that falls to the bottom. You may want to redo the post stating exactly how to make it.
I’m going to add that in today, thanks for the suggestion.
I put my hot water right into my bottle and it melted my bottle, lol….guess I should’ve read this part first, lol
I had the same problem at first, but I continued to dramatically shake my bottles and the glue ultimately melted.
Great idea, but yes please! It will be more usefull to see step by step instructions because the post is not so clear even if you had fixed it by now, you can see there are still a lot of questions about. I scrolled it down for the comments to see if someone give more explanatios about it.
I’m a pediatric OT and I just made one now. I wish I had made one of these sooner! I used the Elmer’s glitter glue in blue (they come in pink, purple, blue, red). I put my bottle of glue in a container of hot water (just from the tap) before starting so it would be thinner when squeezing it into the bottle. It stayed in the hot water cup off to the side as I continued to work with adding other glitter etc. I never needed a wisk, I just shook the bottle after adding glue each time, working my way up to the top. I figured once the water in the bottle cooled it would take longer to settle, so that can be the tricky part just figuring out the perfect concoction. Thanks again for the idea!
Love this Idea. I am a pre-school teacher I love this to used in a quiet center when kids just want to be by themselves or love it for time-out. Thanks for sharing.
THIS is the answer!! I raised 3 kids and any time there was an injury, my kids knew that I would ease the problem. Now I care for an overly dramatic grandchild who goes totally berserk with the smallest of injuries, i.e. a splinter; she screams, fights, struggles, and kicks away any kind of help. This is not good if she ever has a real emergency.
This spell bottle will be used to draw her attention away from her hysterics, to be sure. This will work, I know it. Thank YOU!!! Thank you.
awesome
HI.. First of all, I love these.. but I have a question.. I made a couple of these for my daughter today.. I have gotten the main part of glitter settling around 3 minutes with rest settling around 5 or so.. but I am having an issue with clumpy glitter glue.. did you run into this? if so, were you able to fix it.. or did it just resolve with shaking over a period of time? Thanks and great job on these! I can’t wait to get mine to look as awesome as yours =)
I used hot water to “melt” the glue into the water. The settle time on hot water verses room temp water was a lot less though, so when it cools it will take longer to settle. Something to keep in mind 🙂 hope that helps!
When you say you filled the bottle with 3/4 water, do you mean 3/4 cups or fill the bottle up 3/4 of the way? Thanks!
3/4 full
I like to have a “recipe” So what size glitter glue did you use an 8oz bottle? And what brand or where did you buy the kind you used? I think my daughter will love this! Such cool idea… I could even take a small one to go when we are out
I can’t remember the exact size but I got it at hobby lobby. 🙂
If you haven’t already made this, Casey, I used 1.4oz of glitter glue in a 20oz bottle and about 15oz of clear Elmer’s school glue plus a small jar of fine glitter. The glitter didn’t have a size listed, but it was about an inch tall and a half inch diameter jar. Mine takes longer than five minutes to completely settle, but there are just a few sparkles floating around at the five minute mark.
I used a Vidra.tion water bottle and was happy with it. It’s 20oz, so it’s smaller than the Smart Water bottle, but it’s the same shape. It was also 70 cents cheaper and the label came off without leaving residue of any kind.
Did you use 15oz or 5oz of Elmer’s glue? Just wondering because I have 5oz bottle… Thanks!
I used the clear gel glue as needed. A little at a time until it made the glitter settle in the time I needed. I doubt I used 5 oz. even.
Sorry, that should be 1.5oz of Elmer’s glue. I only needed one bottle of their clear glue to make three of these relaxing jars and there was still some glue left over. My period button doesn’t work very well since my kids tore all the keys off the laptop twice.
Thanks!
I wanted to tell you that this is such an awesome idea that I took my little ones to the craft store today. In line, my four-year-old told the cashier, “It’s for my timeout!” She’s kind of excited about it. I timed mine out a few times, but AFTER I got the lid sealed with Gorilla Glue, I discovered it’s still too slow (maybe eight or nine minutes), so I’m not sure that it’ll work as a timer; BUT I think it will help to calm her down when she’s in timeout. I write for a craft blog (Craft Jr.) and will be linking back to this post to share this idea with our readers!
Thanks for the link! 🙂
I really want to say that I cannot wait to make this. I have a 3 children at home and 13 students with sensory disorder and autism in my classroom. What an incredibly soothing visual and a great visual timer for breaks, when these very wonderful children need a break or a time out. Love it. My TA drinks 3 smart waters a day. So I will have one in every nook and cranny of my class and home.
Thank you for this idea!!! I have twin 2 year old girls filled with drama, drama, drama. This will definitely help them relax and calm down, and their mama too 🙂
What a great(and pretty) way to timeout =D I may try this for my girls, if I do I will link to you(if it’s OK?). Thanks so much!
That’s fine, thanks for the link 🙂
*LOVE, LOVE, LOVE* I too have a three year old drama queen who does not settle for time outs. She has two glitter balls that she loves, and often sleeps with and baths with. I think THIS will work perfectly for calming her down in time outs. I can not thank you enough for this suggestion. I found your blog via a Face Book link, and just added it to my favorites list!
Great idea! I am a preschool teacher and plan on making some of these for my classroom!
Oh yes, I am buying some glitter today! Our 3 year old’s sound a lot a like. :-S
There is a book, “Moody Cow” that has a story that goes along with this book. It has a receipe that uses glycerin (from a drug store) to slow the glitter falling. I keep meaning to make one for my wild child–she LOVES the book!!
oops, goes along with the Mind Jar.
Love this idea. Thanks for sharing. I have a there year old girl as well and am in the same boat.
Have they held up? I made ocean bottles a while back sander they started to mold so I used distilled Easter the next time around. I’ll probably do that just to be safe.
Water… Not Easter
They have held up for 7 months no problem 🙂
How have they held up now? Are they still effective as timers for your kids? They look awesome and I think I am going to make some for both my son and his classroom.
Great idea…this is the house of time out but I would love for my daughter to have a ‘visual’ with her time out..this may help her ‘calm down’ better. She is quite head strong and can go a few rounds in time out without batting an eye! We will see!
This is a fantastic summer craft and he’ll be making his own ‘calm down’/time out tool. 🙂
I love your idea here. I don’t know how you did it though. I used everything I was supposed to & mine turned out nothing like that. =( My glitter floated & the glitter glue just turned into globs.
Maybe use hot water? I did to help the glue “melt” also the glitter floated for a little bit until I totally filled the bottle.
Try pouring out the globby mess into a glass measuring cup and heating it a bit at a time in the microwave, and whisk it. See if it’ll unclump for you.
Don’t microwave it, glitter is metallic and will spark.
Hi Johanna! Such a neat idea! I am bummed though. I tried making today and it took over 30 minutes for all the glitter to settle. Some of the glitter went to the top. Some went to the bottom and a lot just stayed stagnant in the water. I hardly used any of the tacky glue – maybe only 2 squirts. Can you think of what went wrong? I used ultra fine glitter, and about 2 ounces of glitter glue. It was washable glitter glue, I wonder if that affected it?! Oh, and when I shake it, it foams up like soap at the top. I really want to make these! Any tips from you would be so appreciated. Thanks so much! ~Marcy
My only guess would be the different glue? I didn’t have to use much at all but it wasn’t the same kind you used.
You mean the glitter glue? How much of that bottle of glitter glue did you use? The other clear glue in the picture I used the same kind and only used 2 squirts. Maybe I needed to use hot water.
Couple questions. Do you think she ever acts out just so she can go to time out to play with the bottle? Does she get mad because you take the bottle away when time out is over? Does she ask for the bottle as soon as you put her in time out ?
No she has never asked to play with it and still tries very hard to avoid time out. Most of the time a warning that she will end up in time out stops her misbehaving. So far its worked really well for my kids. I know all kids are different though. 🙂
How funny cause I just started making science bottles. Just saw this on pinterest and of COURSE I have to try it! A way more relaxing way for all then fighting time out. Thanks!
Brilliant! I’m going to most definitely make this for my son (age 4) he needs some calming strategies that can be taken to Kindergarten come September. If it works, I’ll send one to his daycare.
Do you have a set recipe for this? How much glue and water did you eventually use? I need to make one for a student and this is by far the closest to perfect that I have seen.
What I posted was the only exact measurements I remember sorry!
I followed your instructions and my glitter won’t settle. I didn’t even add any extra glue. Bottle of glitter glue and glitter and water. Any ideas?
try using hot water at first, I’m editing my post today with that.
I may have to make these in my science class. I can see all kinds of different variables we could test (amount of glue, size of glitter, etc.). Neat idea.
I got to say that is a great idea Becky!
love this idea!! and i have what might be a dumb question….will the water get “icky” after awhile? like growing bacteria and stuff?
Mine have lasted seven months without any yuckiness 🙂 can’t speak for later yet
Brilliant! Thanks for the idea!
Where can i find the water bottle ur using..???
Walmart is where I got it 🙂
This is very cool, I will have to make one for my 3 yo granddaughter.
I work for with young children and I made one of these bottles but I used crayon shavings and plain water. The crayons change the water different colors. This is a great way to calm children.
Wow, this is a great idea. I have a “spirited” child so timeouts are a frequent occurrence in my home. I’m hoping this will make things go a little smoother. I write a blog about life with a spirited child http://ceeceescrazyworld.blogspot.ca/ and I would love to link back to this article:)
How do you get the glitter glue to mix with the water? I put it in and it is just globs at the bottom of the bottle.
I’m editing the post today, I used pretty hot water at first to get the glitter glue to “melt” into the water
I so want to make these for my kids (they are the same when it comes to time out) and was wondering what size water bottle you used?
I can’t remember the exact size, it was one of the largest smart water bottles I could find.
YAY!!! I think I have mine pretty good, just a question….have you noticed when you don’t use the bottle for a while that the glitter sticks to the bottom??? If you shake pretty good will it easily mix back up?
Thanks for sharing this, curious as to how
long it takes for the glitter to settle?
It depends on amount of glue to water I just experimented until I got the right timing 🙂
Made 1 for my grands last night. Dollar Tree ingredients. So far the bulk of the glitter is settled in 20 minutes, so I’m going to split it into 2 bottles and see if I can get closer to the 5 minute mark. How did you get the color so intense? I used silver glitter glue and it looks good, but want to add purple fine glitter to one and red to the second. Should I add food coloring (gel is the only kind in the house right now – do you think that would work?
I haven’t used food coloring but it might work! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Ok, so I am having some trouble with this. I imagine if I left it to sit all day it would look like yours with the glitter all at the bottom. I used, I think exactly what you said. There weren’t amounts given so of course there was some guessing involved. I was using a larger bottle of glitter glue so I just used some of it. I don’t know if your bottle was 4 oz. I added some more glitter. The type you listed as well as the exact type of tacky glue. The hot water worked great. I had no problem with clumps. My problem is that while I am getting a majority of the glitter to fall to the bottom with in 5 minutes. There is a layer of glitter that remains at the top and small pieces of glitter the are still falling even after 20 minutes. Any ideas. I have been dumping the water and glitter and adding more plain water, thinking that I had too much glitter and glue.
I had a similar problem and kept dumping some water from the bottle and adding new water until it settled in the time I wanted. Hope that helps!
I want to make these, and have been around my small town looking for the gel glue…so far I can’t find it, so I’m curious, can I use the Elmer’s clear school glue instead? Was there a reason it had to be gel glue, I’m just not sure if it was more for the clear look, or because of the stickiness you needed. Thanks so much
I haven’t tried anything else but I was more going for clear. If it works out let me know! 🙂
you can use corn syrup too.
Thank you so much for this idea…my son suffers from ADHD….these will do wonders for him!
What gives the bottle the color? Is it the glitter? It seems that even when your glitter is settled the water retains the color. Is this just due to the lighting in the picture or is it actually happening?
I think the glitter glue tints the water a bit.
What gives the bottle its color, is it the glitter? It looks like even when the glitter is settled the water retains the color. Is this just the lighting in the picture or is it actually happening?
I think the gliter glue tints it some but not very much.
What a great idea 🙂 Thanks for sharing it 🙂
I had a problem with the ultra fine glitter floating to the top, any one else experience this? Did I just mess up? Thanks
Some of mine did too, but I used the same brand of glitter and put three different colors in the bottle. In mine, some of the silver floated to the top. I’m not sure why certain colors did and certain colors didn’t.
I had this same problem! I had to scoop the ultra fine glitter out because it was sticking to the bottom. After I scooped it all out, it seems to be working better. However, it seems to settle really fast… I’m wondering if that’s because the fine glitter is not in there. I just keep experimenting with it… It’s such a great idea. I just hope that I can get it to work. I want to make two for my kids and then some for my classroom!
If it settles too slowly just add more gel glue. That’s what helps it settle slower 🙂
wow I think that I am gonna make this for my 9 and 10 yr old for when they fight.
For those of you looking for more of an exact recipe, I used a 17oz water bottle. For a five minute bottle, I had a 4oz bottle of the clear tacky glue and I used about 2/3 of the bottle. I used about 1oz of glitter glue (not really sure this is necessary…you might be able to just use more of the clear tacky glue?). The water does not need to be hot, just warm and like the author mentioned the glitter will drop slower once the water cools to room temperature so keep that in mind. If you don’t get it right, it is easy to fix. Just wait until the glitter drops and pour out some of the liquid. Then, add glue to slow it down or water to speed it up.
What a great project, thanks for the idea!
We used to make these for the child care center I worked for. Instead of glue we used corn syrup.
I am a foster mom, this will be perfect for those that just need a moment. I have the items on my list!
Just wondering if I can use glitter paint instead of glitter glue?
I don’t think that would work since the glue is to help with suspension time.
Thanks… Looks like I will have to get shopping!
I made one of these for the kiddos in my infant classroom. They love it! Thank you. =)
I can’t find the swirl glue ANYWHERE!!!
It doesn’t have to be swirl glue just any type of glitter glue works fine 🙂
I love the idea as a fun and relaxing (and very pretty too) toy, however I have one big concern. If this is so much fun for kids, how effective is their time out (for those of you using it for that purpose)? If the only purpose of the time out is for the child to calm down, then this might be okay. But for many people, a time out is a form of punishment/discipline for their children. In those situations, the time out is useless if the child is having fun playing with something. I would suggest maybe setting this nearby where they can see it but not play with it, and start it over if they misbehave during the time out. If it’s still too much “fun,” maybe switch to a more plain timer. Our kids are 6 and 4, plus 1 due in September, so time outs for us are used as a form of punishment. We do not allow our kids to play with toys during time outs, so that’s why I had that concern when I read about this. But that aside, I think this is a great idea for a toy, and if it works to calm down an upset child, that is a good thing. (As long as the child doesn’t throw a tantrum just to get this toy) I think I will try to make a couple of those for my kids. I will make sure to use the Smart Water bottles, as those are more sturdy than other kinds. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the input, its not a toy in our home at all. They are not allowed to play with the bottles during time out. Just watch them as a timer and calming influence. They don’t play with them when not in time out either and have never done anything to get put in time out to have the bottle. In fact they beg not to go to time out. It may be a problem in a home that allows the children to play with the bottles as toys but we don’t. I agree that would be ineffective as a punishment/discipline if the child sees it as fun. I’m thinking of doing an updated post with a better ingredients list and more detailed of how we use it. For example not allowing them to play with it (in time out or not). I need to make another one anyway for my son who just turned 2 and he is begining to learn about time outs.
Thanks for the great idea! I have 4 children under 5 and if they want to view the “timer” as a toy then so be it. In our home time out is a redirection or refocus. If this bottle can stop a tantrum and shift gears then it’s served it’s purpose well. Thanks again for helping to calm our time-out!
I made a couple of these for my classroom tonight. I love the idea! As far as the bottle being a toy, I think the children will learn really quickly that if they play with the bottle, it adds time to the time out because it stirs up the glitter. I’m also looking forward to the way they’ll be able to shake it vigorously to express some anger before settling down to watch the timer.
Kelly, I had the same concern. It is a great idea but you do need to be careful that we are not teaching them that you get a reward for bad behavior. I would especially be careful using this with kids on the spectrum. I worked for 12 years as a behavior therapist and many suggestions were to use calming therapies such as brushing, deep compressions, weighted blankets, bean bags and such but if they receive these therapies after certain behavior that could increase the behavior. Just wanted to put that out there but otherwise it is a very cool idea.
This is the BEST idea I have seen for kids in time-out! I will be making one tomorrow & sharing with my friends who have time-out issues with their toddlers as well! Thank you!
Thank you for the positive feedback 🙂
I am an elementary EBD teacher. I work with kids with all kinds of behavior issues and I have made them as focus bottles. They can be great for redirection or just to chill out with. I have made them in tiny spring water bottles so that each of my students could make their own. (cheaper). We even made them glow in the dark by using glow paint with clear glue and glitter. These are super fun and my students LOVE them boys and girls alike! Thanks so much. 🙂
Thanks for posting the smaller bottle idea….I’m a School Counselor and would like to help kids make their own. I hadn’t thought of the smaller bottle. Did you half the ingredients?
Love this idea! I did it with my kids this morning and used glow in the dark glitter glue and a little more colored glitter. They are loving them! And they definitely GLOW.
Thanks!
I am a preschool teacher. I have twenty four and five year olds. They loved our jar! The class could play with our jar for hours. My daughter the “third” teacher, as my teacher assistant named her , finds lots of websites that make our class the talk of our school site. Thanks for a site search as yours that allow me to do many things with little money. Maggie in Ayden, NC
Thanks for posting this. My sons therapist suggested an “anger bottle” a while back but he said to use liquid gluecosamine from the drug store. That stuff is really expensive so I have been putting it off. This looks like it will be much cheaper 🙂
Thanks for the idea! I am an Occupational Therapist who works with kids who have all types of sensory deficits. This will be a geat addition to our sensory time.
Okay. So I just tried this for my classroom and for some reason I have a clump of glitter that it floating at the top. Do you know why this is happening or how I can counter act this? Thank you so much,
I used hot water to mix it before hand and then added water to the bottle until it was almost completely full. Maybe use a whisk in a bowl to get that clump out? Or let it work its way out. I know I had a few small clumps at first and just sealed the bottle and then used and now months later I see no clumps. Hope that helps 🙂
Thanks for the great idea! I did 4 bottles today and they turned out perfectly for a 2 year old and 4 year old. I wanted to let everyone know a helpful little tool I used; a blender bottle for the glitter glue and hot water before pouring into the water bottles (already had the ultra fine glitter). Once combined in the water bottle I added the clear glue a little at a time to achive the right settle time for each bottle. The blender bottle was a huge help. I didn’t have to worry about shaking the water bottle too much or vigorously.
THIS IS GREAT! my 2.5yr old is loving it and it works sooo well. We made ours yesterday and for a 2.5 minute timer we used about 7/8 hot water, one small bottle of glitter glue, and about 2/3 of a tube of glitter and it settles perfectly! haha ,I know have about 12 of my friends making them too… THANK YOU!
All I can say is THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! I have an almost 2yr old girl and the other week I think I would’ve sold her to gypsies for free!!! We were having the EXACT same problem with our time outs!! I will so definitely try this!!!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!
I made a set of these as well, but I put about four ounces of glitter glue in each bottle so that they settle in about 15 minutes. I’m using them as timers in my classroom. They work great and using them has eliminated the yelling out of “10, 9, 8…ect.” that regular timers create. I love them. Thanks for the idea!
5 minute 1 liter bottle = 4oz of glitter glue+2oz clear gel tacky glue+1/2 of a small tube martha stewart glitter. I bought the generic water at the grocery store, no need for goo gone.
How much water do you use?
I found your post via Pinterest. We had attempted two “calm down” jars before but yours is perfect! We made them about a month ago following your directions, and it is amazing how beautiful they are and how much they actually help my kids to calm down. My 4yo son calls his a hush bottle. I am writing up a post about them today for my blog as I caught some great shots of my kids really upset and then calming down while using the bottles. I’m linking back to you as I’m not providing the directions, just showing that they do work!! Thanks for such an awesome, awesome idea. :))
When time outs for calming the kids down, this is great. If their time out is for time to think about what they did, and they coudl solve the problem better next time, perhaps a distraction
Okay so I made the bottles and the only problem i had at first was it settled too fast and than i used food coloring and it looks AMAZING. my daughter is bipolar/adhd/and o.d.d she is going on 7 in november and the only punishment that actually works for her when she is having her extreme violent spells is the “thinking chair” it works perfectly because we put her in the thinking chair to think about her actions it started out where i had to literally pick her up to put her in the chair but now she knows that thats where the time out is no where else in our house school etc is time out but the “thinking chair”. i am going to use this bottle as a timer to let her know that when the glitter is done settling is when the time out is over unless she throws a bigger fit. also another thing that works is breathing techniques =) hope this helps.
I just made this today – I used an empty ethos water bottle (24 oz) I had on hand (so “free” since I didn’t have to buy it today and have a bunch on hand) a bottle of glitter $2.49, about half a bottle of the Swirl glitter glue $2.99 (cost for this project $1.50) and about half of the Aleene’s clear gel tacky glue $2.47 (cost for this project $1.25). This was all from a hobby lobby in Seattle area.
I’ve ended up with about an inch of “foam” on the top of my bottle and about half an inch of glitter on the bottom of the bottle with some still suspended. I’m not worried about the suspended glitter – I assume that’s just the way it will be I’ve been waiting for it to settle 100% for about an hour – but the foam will that go away over time I didn’t notice any on yours.
I didn’t have foam that I remember but I filled it to the top with water and probably just let the foam come out before capping.
What kind of “glitter glue” did you use? I can’t really see in the photo….
Would Elmer’s glitter glue work?
Mine was craft glitter glue from hobby lobby. I’ve never tried Elmer’s glitter glue. If it works let me know 🙂
I just used the Elmer’s glitter glue and it worked fine. I didn’t put the whole bottle, I used about half. I also put my water in the microwave for 2 minutes first.
Whatis the swirl stuff! In th pink bottle on the “product” picture.
It is the glitter glue I used. I got it at hobby lobby in the glitter section. I’ll have to look for it again to get the brand 🙂
Do you think the glitter glue is a must or do you think just regular glitter will do?
I have had several readers tell me they only used the clear gel glue and glitter and it worked great! 🙂
I think I’ll make a trip to Hobby Lobby – I love the metallic look your bottles have!!
🙂
This is great. My 3 year old and I call hers her ‘Calm Down Bottle’ and she asks for it when she’s getting tired, cranky or upset. We had to make a mini Calm Down Bottle to fit in my handbag for out and about use, too!
Love this….. I added star andmoon glitter and used blue glitter glue with gray ultra fine glitter…. I am still playing with adding more glu soon….. Will use this in my classroom in my “THINKING CIRCLE”… again… thank you…. when I get mine to work correctly, I plan to make one for each of my team members……
I think I did something wrong lol I did a blue one . i think I have to much glitter to much glue and not enough water as mine does not really settle and it certainly doesn’t swirl I could almost make two of them by dumping half of this one into a bottle and adding water to both
so I don’t think it is that the glitter is not settling it is that is died the water a dark blue so it is hard to see lol
After exploding a bottle of glitter glue all over myself at the store, hot gluing the cap on wrong with the first bottle, super gluing my fingers on the 2nd and ruining one of my good shirts our relax bottle is finally made. And it is AWESOME. Thank you.
Crisco Baking Spray works well for getting the label residue off the bottle. I made a 6 minute pink bottle for my 6 year old and a 2 minute green/blue bottle for my 2 year old. They love them. Even when they are mad they know throwing them will just mix up the glitter again – totally awesome!
hi 🙂 is it ok if i do the glitter bottle in the following way:
use empty bottle, then fill it with water (3/4), pour into the bottle glitter???
and i forgot one thing : is it ok if i pout into the bottle the manganum (for pink colour) ??
Sorry don’t know what that is….
I don’t think that would do well
Mine is settling too fast! HELP. How can I make it go slower?
The glue makes it go slower
can someone make the instructions more clear..do you mix everything in the bottle or in something else then in the bottle?? DO YOU USE CLRAR GLUE AND GLITTER OR CLEAR GLUE AND GLITTER GLUE OR ALL THREE?????
It seems to work best for those that mix it in another container like a bowl first and whisk it together with hot water. Yes you use fine glitter, hot water, glitter glue and clear gel glue if needed to slow the settling process.
I thought you used glitter paint, not glitter glue??
My daughter has just been diagnosed as Highly sensitive. Time out seems very harsh to her, but she still needs to be disciplined. And we needed a way for her to learn to calm herself down! I am trying this today. It seems like a God send! THANK YOU!!!
I love this idea! Unfortunately I am having a hard time making one though. First I got my water way too hot and it actually disfigured the bottle! Luckily I had an extra one but it was a the small one. Now in having trouble getting the right consistency… But I’m not giving up! I’m too excited to use this with my 3 year old!!
Wonderful idea! thank you for sharing!!
I tried this today but it didn’t really work. About half the glitter floated. I’m wondering if it was too fine. Do you know what kind of glitter you used? Thanks.
I used ultra fine and some floated on mine also for the first little while.
I think it is the color of the glitter too… We did one with bright green and it all stayed up top. We also did one in blue, and that worked like it is supposed too. Looking at are glitter jar, the different colors look different. The orange, yellow and green, they don’t have quite the metalic look of the other colors. So I wonder if they are lighter? That is a theory I came up with anyways.
Thank you!was wondering how to make these with the pearl glitter. If you were to buy a set from a preschool supply store online a set of three or four was $70.
With your idea you can make them how your children want them! Thank you for sharing!
Sorry I’m not sure what pearl glitter is, is it just the color pearl?
Liquid watercolors in silver or gold from Discount School Supply are great for getting that pearly look. And they don’t significantly change the color of your water, so if you want blue water it will still turn out blue.
Just made it with my 1 year old watching/ heping. Tip for next time would be to wait until he is asleep to attempt such a project. Also, make sure to buy glitter that has a large opening. Mine had only small holes and the top was not coming off even with pliers. So I had to punch a hole in it with a hammer and pour my glitter into a cup. Then in my haste and excitement I thought taking the tops off of the glues would make them come out faster. Yes it did and it went all down the sides of the water bottle as it came out in globs. My son was whining and pulling down my pants the whole time to the point where I made this in my underwear, hands covered in glue. I then used Gorilla Glue to seal the top, which EXPANDS immensely. I gave it to my son and he hugged it shirtless and now has a glue line on his shoulder. ha ha. Alas the thing is awesome and the look on his face was fantastic. Mine does have clumps of glue even though I microwaved the water. I may try to make another and use the previous commenter’s ideas of whisking it all in a measuring cup before transferring it to the bottle.
I made some and my glitter separates and goes to the top, do you think I need more glue???
Maybe.
I need one of these for myself..this is a must do for me this week!! Thank you!
I need this for myself..Thank you for the directions..I need all the help I can get with these things.
Great idea! I’m going to use this as a timer for brushing teeth. My 4 and 3 year old try to race while brushing their teeth and I think this will help slow them down.
The relax timer is a wonderful idea & I will encourage my granddaughters to help me make them so that everyone has a good understanding of the purpose! Thanks
I didn’t have very many bubbles… Sorry. Try letting it sit?
Agree – we didnt if we let it sit, the longer and SLOWER you pour in the glitter the better it works!!! ~ You may have to go SLOWLY and keep adjusting, DONT ADD EVERYTHING AT ONCE or it I noticed it wont go for the whole 5 minutes – ours so far is about 2 min. But its ok, using it more for him to relax, then as a timer at this age!!!! 🙂
NOW I see this post. LOL (fortunately, I had TWO bottles on hand, so divided the substance between them and added LOTS more water!)
I found you on pinterest, and I just made one of these for my 2 year old. Thanks for such a great post! With your description, it was really easy!
Working on one for the 3 y.o I nanny and I have a question: does a lot settle at once and then you’re left with itty bits to settle? Or if I add more glue will it settle more evenly? Thanks!
Ours settles a lot at first then slowly.
Here is how I made mine based on these instructions. I hope this helps some people who were concerned about how much of this or that to add.
I started with a large Smart Water bottle and peeled off the label. To get the goop off I covered the area with Crisco and let it sit for 10 min and then scraped it off with an old gift card.
I then took 4 cups of water and put then in an old Tuperware container ( in case it got ruined) and microwaved it for 3 min.
I then took 3 ounces of red glitter glue and squeezed it to the water and stirred it with a whisk. It took a few minutes, but it eventually blended. I then took a small 1/8 ounce container of extra fine red glitter and 1/16 ounces of blue glitter and stirred them in.
Based on previous posts I decided to cool the water down before trying to time it.
I put it in the freezer for 25 min and then took it out and stirred it in the Tupperware container. It was falling within 5 minutes. For some reason I didn’t think this was enough time and I added one tsp of clear glue. I regret adding it in retrospect.
I then poured the mixture into a small pitcher (measuring cup) then poured that into the large water bottle. I did that until all the mixture was in the bottle- making sure to stir the bowl and measuring cup for when the glitter settled in them.
I put the lid on and gave it a spin, and it took 7 min to settle. For my 3 year old that was too long so I waited for it all to settle and then poured 1 cup of the clearish liquid off the top and replaced it with 1 cup tap water. This brought it down to 6 minutes, so I repeated the procedure.
The final product takes 4 min. and 30 seconds to settle .
I hope this helps for those of you who like step by step instructions!
Thank you so much “crazyblessedlife” for posting this! I don’t know about my daughter, but I’m hypnotized by it!!
My bottle keeps foaming ahhhhh any ideas??? plz help lol
Omg this was a LIFESAVER!! My bbfs son is autistic. It can be very difficult to calm him down and bring him out of a raging fit. This was IMMEDIATE!! He instantly calms down and can tell his parents, or me, what is wrong! Best part is, they can bring it with on trips out of town. Beyond thankful right now 🙂
I’m so glad it helped!
Making them when i get home, went and got the stuff at my lunch!!!
Very cool. I’m going to make a bunch and give them to the autism and sped class at DS’s school. Passing the recipe on to our Occupational Therapist!
Great! Pass on the website 🙂 I’m so happy to hear they will be helping other kids!
Just made this with my son – I POURED the hot water. He choose silver glitter glue, and gold glitter!!!! Looks cool 🙂 cant wait to try it out next time he needs to take a break on the stairs!! Hes almost 10, so we call time outs, RELAX/calm down moment or a break. 🙂 He has some special needs, due to emotional and behavioral challenges, and this was a GREAT idea for him !! He already loves and wants to try it. Thanks for a great idea. I may just make the next one and use for myself when I need to remind myself to stay grounded and just take a few deep breaths, as a single hard working Mom about to start college, Im sure I will use it ALOT 🙂
Love this idea – plan to make one for my nephew…and maybe one for me -lol!
I DID make one of these. Lessons learned:
– You’ll need a much higher ratio of hot water to glue/glitter than you can imagine (fortunately, I had TWO bottles on hand, so divided the substance between them and added LOTS more water!)
– Do NOT mix colors. While blue and green may work well in paints, with glitter glue you end up with “Murky Ocean” color. Not great, but not horrid either. I added gold glitter and some yellow glitter glue to brighten it up a bit.
– Add some coarse glitter too, for fun. The fine stuff sinks slowly, but the bigger glitter is fun to watch go down sooner. Makes glitter layers in the bottom too, which is fun.
– Don’t use boiling water. It “cooks” the glitter glue. sigh
I NOW want to make one with red and gold glitter!
Just made a red/gold one…. GORGEOUS! And I didn’t use ANY of the gel glue. Just the glitter glue alone was plenty. Didn’t add any other glitter either.
I think these are awesome and definitely will work well in my preschool classroom.
The children will love them! So will the parents
Thank you for a great idea!
Loved the time out bottles
thank you for this post! my 4 yr old daughter and i just made one and it is perfect 🙂 and she is calling it “Princess Potion” which i think is perfect. we used about half of the clear gel, a small bottle of glitter glue, a 16oz bottle, and mixed it with almost boiling water in a measuring cup. just make sure it’s cool before pouring it in the bottle or it will melt. thanks for the post:)
Ha, wish I would have read the comments first! I mixed in the bottle and couldn’t figure why I had to shake it so long to get the glue to “melt.” Thankfully I read the part about hot water and we have an instant hot on the kitchen sink so I used that!
Thanks for the tips! Great tutorial, going out to buy supplies and make these now! Thanks!
This is a really great idea. I found myself with the same dilemma a couple of months ago. When a child is in time out, they are so consumed by it, that they don’t realize that it’s to teach them a lesson. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Hi, I love this idea. I have been talking about making them all week and finally made it to the craft store tonight. Bought all the ingredients and when I made them my glitter just floats to the top. not sure what im doing wrong. I don’t have any glue clumps everything is dissolved and it looks beautiful shaken but all of the glitter floats straight to the top. Help!!!
Did you use glitter glue? Mine floats down, some stayed at the top but not very much.
I am having the same problem. And it is the bigger glitter that won’t sink. 😦
Why doesn’t mine look like that?? I used what you used but it doesn’t completely clear like yours does, there’s still glitter floating in and on top
Ours are not totally clear there is some color to the water. It seems like the glitter settles more and more over time. Did you use glitter glue or just regular glitter?
Just like what you did I think.. Thanks for the quick reply by the way! 🙂
I went to hobby lobby, got what you got in the photos, put HOT water in a pyrex measuring cup, mixed in glue and glitter and poured it into the bottle when it cooled enough.. I’ve been messing with it all day trying to get the timing right.. LOL Finally I had enough with it and sealed it up.. I think I’m just worrying about it too much. Thanks for the post though! 🙂
You’re welcome! I’m glad it is working 🙂
I tried this! I had no problems settling out the glitter, but the color will not settle out at all. Any ideas on why this is and how I can fix it???
Our bottle’s water is some colored by the glitter glue. The glitter was all that settles. I think some glitter glue colors the water more than others.
I guess that did it. The water is the same color as the glitter glue. We used very intense dark colors (dark green and dark blue) and I guess is why the color doesn’t settle out. Hmmmm….may have to try light colored glues, but get dark colored glitter….We used white glitter.
I am a Infant Room teacher at a head start and we make them using warm water, glitter glue, food coloring and shimmer powder. They really help calm babies down too.
First of all – genius idea and I look forward to trying this with my Bella, who is two. I may be a mom of 6 and a childcare professional (with degree and all that) but she is, by far, different than any of my other children and this would probably help in the tantrum category – time out isn’t used in this house as a means of discipline but as a way to “cool down.” Second, while I plan on using a plastic container, remember that before plastic was invented, glass was used – even with a three year old – bottles were glass too; I am pretty sure people survived or we wouldn’t be here. And third, thank you for your responses to everyone else – now I know how to get the kinks out of the process before I begin! =)
Ok don’t know what I did wrong, but my glitter glue is clumpy. I used very hot water, too. Any suggestions? Gonna have to try this again, but I think I used too much water, too. it settles way too quickly. Love this idea though.
Maybe it’s the type of glitter glue?
How much glue did you put in the bottles? I want to make some of these for my kids, but I’m not sure how much I need.
Thanks!
I used almost the entire bottle of glitter glue per timer, but it depends on how long you need it to take.
What size is the bottl;e of gliutter glue?
It depends on how long you want the settle time to be but I would suggest a 4 oz. bottle
This is such a great idea! I’m going to give it a try.
Just wondering if anyone has tried other types of glitter glue? I don’t live anywhere near Hobby Lobby, and the Swirl Glittler Glue is on amazon, but not in a lot of colors…Thanks!
Or other brands for the clear tacky glue that could be found somewhere like Michaels?
I used elmre’s glitter glue and Elmer’s craft bond paper craft gel (clear) in mine and it worked great. only difference the color of the water when it settles isn’t see through it stays quite pink but the glitter settles. I got both of them at Walmart.
In our family, we have several children who are former foster adopted children. All of them have anger issues due to the past. I plan to make Glitter bottles for all of my nieces and nephews, as well as one for my daughter, who is 19, and still has anger issues.
I like the idea, but DANGER IF YOU DON’T CHILDPROOF THE LID! Kids love things that glitter and are “pretty”. It can become a huge hazard if you don’t secure this correctly. Whether you duct tape the lid or put a locking cap over the original one (that is what we did!)… JUST DO IT. You could be saving you child’s life! These are TOXIC chemicals that are “pretty” and IN A WATER BOTTLE. To a child..it does cry… DRINK ME!!
Yes! Ours are super glue shut and my husband made sure they were not coming off! Safety is very important with these 🙂
I love this. I will share at my school.
omg i freekin’ like this i’m gonna make a few of these for my 6 yr old for his tantrum moments sumtimes his stress ball koosh ball)don’t work out
you can use the Elmer’s glitter glue too (or a generic) and then add the large “glue on” spangly things you can get at the arts and crafts area of wal-mart for a diff look. Just use HOT water, a little at a time, after you dump the glue in the bottle. I used 1/2 bottle of glitter glue in a 20 oz bottle and added HOT water, a little at a time, to prevent clumps…
I really like this. I am going to make one
I have 7 young grandchildren, make a cute Christmas gift
My 3 and 4 years old will be amazed by this …..I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing your research.
Awesome! I love it!
I LOVE THIS IDEA FOR MY DAYCARE KIDDOS… thank you!!! Can’t wait to give them a try! 🙂
Pure genius! U r an inspiration!
thanks for the advice i have an out of controll time outer will try this idea
A mom who reads my blog & facebook page shared this with me. This is GENIUS!!!! How PERFECT! My 12 yr old thought it was the coolest thing ever. This is DEFINITELY a project my kids will benefit from, even if they’re older. Being on the autism spectrum, we (my son & I) are prone to meltdowns and easily frustrated with the seemingly mundane, so having a visual calm-down technique will be wonderful. Additionally, my almost-5 yr old will have something visual for when redirecting hasn’t worked. Thanks so much!!
I am going to have to try this
I will defintely be trying this
Johanna,
When you made these did you mix everything together in the bottles?
I mixed everything in a glass mixing bowl and then used a funnel to pour it in the bottle then just filled it the rest of the way with water as needed.
I Love the bottles. The only problem I’m having is that some of the glue is staying at the top of the bottle and not settling. Andy suggestions?
where did you find the swirl glitter?
Hobby lobby
Found this on Pinterest. Love it! I plan to make this in a mini bottle version (8oz) bottle so my rolley polley baby can stay still during diaper changes…. I hope it works out for me!
My daughter is a buddy in the special needs classroom at her jr.high..i think a few of these would be very soothing for these students.
I am making this as soon as I hit “send.” But, I will wait for hubby to get home because I have the same issue with crazy glue. LOL Thanks for this wonderful idea.
Genius! Absolutely wonderful idea. I work with abused and emotionally disturbed children. Timeouts can be a horrendous ordeal, and I have a feeling these will help immensely. I also work with austic children as well, and these will be great for stimulation and relaxation during my therapy sessions. I’m going to busy making tons of these. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I love this. I will be making some this weekend!! Thanks for the idea 😀
I love this. My kids are amazed! The glitter glue must have been more colored because when it settles you cannot see through it. Also while most of the glitter settles on the bottom some settles on the top.
I tried one tonight using Elmer’s glitter glue rather than the tacky glue. Works great! Found it in WM in the regular school supplies section. I used 1/3 bottle of it and the SmartWater bottle shown.
Genius!!! Love it. I made one, it was easy and looks great.
I’ve had a hard time getting this to work, thinking its possibly the items I’m using.. What brand of glitter glue did you use??
It was called swirl glitter glue, I don’t remember the brand but I just had a reader tell me that she only used the gel glue and fine glitter and it worked fine! 🙂
I only used the gel tacky glue and no glitter glue. I had to use a whole 4 0z. bottle of it and then a little more from another bottle, but it came out nice. The only thing is, it doesn’t have that swirly thick look like yours, which I love, so maybe u do need the swirl glitter glue after all, if you want that effect.
My daughers – 9 and 6 – love these! I made the first one using the tacky glue, glitter glue and fine glitter. This one is just like yours, with the slightly colored/milky water left after the glitter settles. The second one, I left out the glitter glue and the water is crystal clear. Both are neat, but wanted others to know they could skip the glitter glue (and the cost) and they still work fine! Also, I think it’s the glitter glue that requires warm water to dissolve. When I made the second one, with only the tacky glue, I used cold water and the glue dissolved fine. Thanks so much for the tutorial!!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing 🙂
cool
I love the idea about using plastic and super gluing it shut. I have an 8 year old daughter that could benefit from one of these I think. I am glad you mentioned you found it calming too, otherwise I might have thought she was a little old for it. I will be making hers in pink too 🙂
I made one of these but mine never gets that clear on the top, what did I do wrong? I have aspergers so I thought this would help but its just frustrating me that I can’t make it right.
Try just gel glue and glitter. No glitter glue. I had a reader tell me that gave her clear results 🙂 hope that helps!
I’ll have to try that thank you!
I started off thinking that my Rascal needed one; then I realized that this would make a great gift for our daycare (so she’ll need six); then I started thinking about the very low functioning kids (can’t do kindergarten-level activities) in our Resource Room at the middle school where I teach…and the final number is 12.
I went to Michael’s to buy my supplies b/c it is a common chain in both Canada and the US (I’m in Canada), hoping to get the same brands as originally posted, and I also knew that they would have a wide selection of colours. The glitter glue (different brand than yours) was a PAIN, even with the hottest water, pre-stirring, etc. I ended up splitting one “relax” bottle into two to get the consistency right. Since I’m making a dozen of these, that is okay! I should have read all the way to the bottom – that way I would have read Christy’s suggestions and saved both money and time! With the knowledge gained from making the first three, I can take back some of the supplies I bought (whew!).
When I figure out the “magic combo” – because I’ll be an expert when I’m done! – I’ll repost here.
Hi,
First of all, what an amazing idea!!
I’ve tried to make one myself, but all the glitter keeps on going upwards instead of downwards?
I user a plastic waterbottle, it had no bubbles, flat water. And i used transparant kiddy glue. Since i don’t live in the States i don’t have the possibility to purchase exactly the same products, but do you have any idea what to do? The glitter simply doesn’t settle at the bottom but keeps going to the top! Many thanx from the netherlands.
Thanks for writing me! I love hearing from my readers in other countries 🙂 my first thoughts are more glue? Or maybe the type of glitter? Sorry if that isn’t much help, but those are my best guesses.
is it ok if i skip the glitter glue and use food color instead?
You can skip the glitter glue and just use clear gel glue and ultra fine glitter. I had a reader do that and say it settles and the bottle is clearer that way. I wouldn’t suggest food coloring unless you want the water even more murky though.
I agree – when the bottles are settled, they don’t really have to be coloured. The fascination is in the swirly glitter! I have one at school and the teens LOVE it!
I made this for my 3 yr old daughter and should have used darker pink glitter. You can’t really tell when it’s settled
Hey!It was a really good idea!Thanx alot!My sister Lucy,is a really bigangry type of girl…she shouts when she is bored…nmy mom was tired!
This didn’t work for me. The glitter stuck to the inside of the bottle after sitting overnight. Is there any way to fix this. I did it exactly as you said.
Is it totally full of water?
Tracy – Sometimes this happens to ours too, especially when the bottles have been left lying on their sides. However, we just give ’em a good shake and twirl! Once that glitter gets swirling around in there – so pretty! – it dislodges the other glitter on the side and then settled down again to the bottom.
I hope that’s what will happen with yours too.
plz help my bottle is foamy not sure why did exactly what it is called for what am i doing wrong??
Not sure? Anyone else have this problem?
I ran into this problem too when I used glitter glue. I let it settle for about an hour, then I added cool water very slowly until all the foam moved OUT of the bottle at the top. One benefit to this was that the water level was also very near the top of the bottle before I sealed the cap on with CrazyGlue. The foam didn’t come back, BTW.
Thanks for the help 🙂 ill def try this 🙂
Just found your post on this while searching for something completely different! Happen to have a defiant daughter (9) and an emotional daughter (10), so think it will be good for both. Will give it a try and let you know what supplies work in Australia! Also, to avoid having to buy Goo (is it chemical?) readers could try eucalyptus or tea tree oil for natural method of removing tackiness. (assuming available in US).
Kathie – I used coconut oil, baking soda, and basic dish soap – worked well!
defiant daughter (9) and an emotional daughter (10), so think it will be good for both. Will give it a try and let you know what supplies work in Australia! Also, to avoid having to buy Goo (is it chemical?) readers could try eucalyptus or tea tree oil for natural method of removing tackiness. (assuming available in US).
Just found your post on this while searching for something completely different! Happen to have a
Hey – great idea! I decided to try using two different shades of glitter and more tacky glue – like 4 oz in a 20 bottle – without the glitter glue. It is still a five minute settle in a smaller bottle but the water stays clear. Also the glitter seems to sparkle more. I did order some glow in the dark glitter online. If I can charge it enough, they’ll be like night lights while the kids are trying to fall asleep!
Do the pretty stripes/waves of color stay in the bottle as in your first picture?
No that is just at first after shaking.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!! I bbsit my grandbabies and many more times than not, they need a time out,,, or 3. Heehee. This is perfect. Love the plastic better too than the glass, my bbs are 7,5 & a 13mo which plastic would be perfect for. Thank you very much. Love your blogs they’re great to read. Take care be safe,,,,,suzie
So after they settle how do u get them pretty again for the tantrum?
Ok, I have to ask this for those who have already done this. First, this idea seams really good and the glitter bottles look beautiful. My first impression was: Yes! Gotta run to the store NOW and get the ingredients!! My second impression: Wait!?! Wouldn’t this make the kids LOVE their time-outs??? ??? ??? So. Has anyone seen this problem yet? Do your kids simply ‘can’t wait’ to get into their time-outs??? Just thinking… Maybe someone can answer this before I run out to the store for all the ingredients. Hehe.
Not my kids, they don’t even want to play with them when not in time out. 🙂 it isn’t a problem in my home at all.
We made these tonight and my kids love them. We used an old peanut butter jar and glues the lid down and gave it to our 1 year old in mid tantrum. It stopped her in her tracks and she immediately stopped crying. She has sat and rolled it around on the ground and watched it for an hour now. The bigger kids like them too.
Sorry if you’ve already answered this – what size (how many oz) are your water bottles? I’ve seen more than one size of the Smart Water and I couldn’t tell for sure from your pic what size you used.
It was the 1 liter size 🙂
Thank you – another question, I’m making one now and for some reason my glitter (I used the ultra fine like you said) is rising instead of sinking… what am I doing wrong?
Well I finally got mine to work! It took a lot of pouring glittery water out and adding more plain water but I finally got it down to about 5 minutes settle time (it was taking WAY longer initially). And my ultra fine glitter finally mixed in too instead of rising to the top like it was in the beginning. I also initially had the “foaming” at the top like some others mentioned but as I let it settle and eventually had it filled all the way to the top with water it settled/worked it self out. And I definitely used hot water to start with to dissolve/melt the glitter glue.
I used Elmers Glitter glue (blue) and a small bottle of green ultra fine glitter (0.125 oz) and didn’t need any of the clear gel glue because the Elmers is a 6oz bottle. It gave it a cool watery look, I love it. Hopefully it will help my dramatic almost 2 year old settle down. 🙂 Thanks so much for posting. For those wondering it cost me around $5. If you have a place to share pics or want to see a pic I took pics of mine just shaken, ~1/2 settled, and fully settled and merged them into one pic.
I’m so glad you got it to work for you. I used the same glitter glue and fine glitter pkg for both of my girls’ bottles, so my cost for both was less than $7. Thank you for sharing your experience with my readers! 🙂 I love when mom’s can help each other out! That is one of my main reasons for this blog 🙂
April, I’d love to see pics… could you message me rea72081 @ gmail.com Thanks so much 🙂
Ok I have to ask I noticed this post is over a year old so I assume you have been using this for your kids about that long so how long do they last? Do you have to make them again after a certain amount of time?
Yes we have been using them for over a year and they look just the same and work just as well as when I made this post! I wondered that also if after a year I would be remaking them or not and so far they have held up great with lots of use! 🙂 great questions for others also making this! I had no one to ask when I first did them.
Do you just mix all the ingredients in the bottle and then shake it up? I am hoping to make this with 4 kids for a bday party and just want to be sure I am doing it right. I only need, clear glue ( any kind will do?), glitter glue and fine glitter? Plus the water bottles? Sorry just want to make this work! Haha! Thanks for the help!
I mixed them in a small glass bowl first with a whisk to get all of the clumps out and then poured into the water bottles and filled with water. I had one reader say she didn’t use glitter glue, just the clear gel glue and ultra fine glitter and it worked great! Good luck 🙂
I made this today two of them one for each Grand Child. They love them but we have one problem, I think I put to much glitter glue in them as they take over 20 mins to settle to the bottom. what can I do I dump some out and add water but didn’t seem to help much. Do you have any suggestions for us? Or just start over? Thanks for the help.
I would keep dumping a little and adding water until you get the timing you want. I had to do that a lot of times at first because I had the same problem and added too much glue. 🙂 hope that helps!
Hey Kristie! Do you remember what ratio of water, glue and glitter you used to get 20 minutes? I was thinking of making this as a breakfast timer for my kids in the morning. They are the slowest eaters and having a visual timer sitting in front of them might just move things along? 15 or 20 minutes would be perfect for this.
Hey Kristie! Do you remember what ratio of water, glue and glitter you used to get 20 minutes? I was thinking of making this as a breakfast timer for my kids in the morning. They are the slowest eaters and having a visual timer sitting in front of them might just move things along? 15 or 20 minutes would be perfect for this.
Hi! I made one of these totally based on throwing in random amounts of glitter and glitter glue,, it looks very pretty but my problem is getting it too settle slower! Right now it settles in >1 minute.
The water is already pretty cold and the jar is nearly topped off with water.. What to do??
ok i tried to mix the hot water with the glue in the little space i had.. took some water out. But i have used like 1/5 of the clear glue bottle and the effect is pretty much the same !! 0______o
WHAT IS GOING ON
I would keep dumping a little water off the top then adding straight water.
just an FYI, Pinterest just tried to tell me this might be spam 😦 I purposely pinned this myself and not repin’d a pin… grr bad pinterest…
Thank you! I’m not sure how to fix that on pinterest
hi – i have been reading here – lots of questions! i just wanted to throw out there, we used clear soap in ours, to thicken it, and it works great. just make sure you don’t have air in there – you’ll always have a tiny bit, but get as much out as you can. We also made clear ones with large things in there – ribbons, buttons, pom-poms, sequins, a tiny bit of big glitter, beads – limitless ideas – the ribbons are very cool!! It doesn’t take much water to make the soap the right consistency, and things float.
Oh, I like the idea of little “floaties” in it. What kind of ribbon did you use? What brand of clear soap? LIke hand soap? Awesome! Thanks!!
I’ve got a tantrummy 2 year old and I am going to buy the supplies to try this ASAP! (I have him and a newborn, so I tend to do most of my shopping online these days. If you wanted to throw in some affiliate links to the items you used from Amazon or something, you could make a little money AND help out those of us who don’t have TIME to go to craft stores, because we’re too busy dealing with those tantrums!) 😉
Hi! Love your tutorial 🙂 featured on my blog: http://kidsfuncraft.wordpress.com,
I hope it’s o.k.
thank you!
I’m the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your project! You can see it here:
http://funfamilycrafts.com/time-out-timer/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, we’d love it if you would submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!
How much of each for a 2 or 3 minute bottle? I really could use this idea with my son (about 2 years old) when he has his breakdowns!
I love this idea! I’m going to make one for myself and one for my little sis. I’m also going to
encourage my big brother to do it too. My whole family has anger problems.
I’m making the bottle to day and I was wondering what color looks really pretty.
I too have a little drama mama!!! Oh lord have time outs been trying on both of us!! This is fabulous, and super easy to make!! I think this will really help my little one stop and relax and focus on positive behaviors!!
So I used hot water, the tacky gel glue (same brand you used) and glitter. The next day it was all stuck to the bottom. Any suggestions on how to fix it or try something different next time? Thanks!!!
I’ve never seen this problem! I’ll post the comment so maybe someone else can offer an idea about how to fix it….
Great recipe. Thank you, we will be making these tomorrow, as there is no school here. I will post how it goes on my blog. Thanks!
Thus is so cute! What a great idea!!
I just made mine and it got all foamy looking after mixing… and the glitter got all clumpy in the foamy stuff… is this normal?
Did you have an issue with the mixture bubbling up? I just made one and a large part of the glitter is stuck to bubbles at the top of the bottle.
Nope, but maybe another commenter has?
I’ve done a couple bottles now and when I used the cheaper glitter glue from Walmart I had the problem but not with the bigger bottles (diff brand too) that I got from Hobby Lobby… hope that helps…
HELP PLEASE!!!! I used the tacky glue and elmer glitter glue and some cheap glitter and very hot water and it settles way to fast and its all clumpy. I really would like to make one of these for my si=on since he is horrible in time outs!!
my son throws tantrums and leaves me with very little patience (he is three by the way). I am not sure what to do for this. This idea seems good, however what if he opens the lid? He is very curious and I imagine him opening it.
We superglued them shut.
I made a large (I think 50oz size SmartWater) bottle for an adult friend with ADD. She wanted the color to be purple. The store didn’t have glitter glue in purple, so I used gold glitter glue, mixed with Martha Stewart brand fine glitter in “amethyst.” The combo came out looking great. I used vegetable oil and a paper towel to take off the label adhesive.
About the water temperature: when mixing with the glitter glue, the water should not be boiling, otherwise you might crack even a Pyrex glass container. Just make it hot enough so that the glitter glue clumps dissolve more easily in the mixing container (and do use a separate container to mix things in before pouring into the bottle). You can let that mixture cool a bit more before putting it into the plastic bottle, and the plastic won’t melt or disfigure. Take your time. It’s ok. I didn’t need all of the Aleene’s clear gel glue for the big bottle, and a 3 min settling time. I did get amethyst glitter all over me and parts of my kitchen, but it all wipes or rinses off.
Be verrry careful with the superglue. I don’t really think this is an appropriate project for very young children, but older kids can help you make these. Adults only should handle the superglue, though. 🙂
I have been looking for this all over the place!! I only have big glitter so I’m gonna try it, wish me luck!!Thank you again (and I just signed up your emails, so so excited I found you)!!
Love this idea, but I can’t help but wonder and ask Have they never opened the bottle? And if they did, what happened! ? LOL
Nope, they cannot open it because we super glued it shut before giving it to them.
Reblogged this on The Joan Zone and commented:
Discovered a new blog today “My Crazy Blessed Life”. I loved this post so I wanted to share.
Reblogged this on P3 – Parenting To The 3rd Power and commented:
Discovered a new blog today “My Crazy Blessed Life”. I loved this post so I wanted to share.
I followed the directions used the glitter glue and fine glitter, also added extra glue to slow it down, but I can only get it to 2-2:30mins. Not sure what I am doing wrong. How much glue did you use?
I had to add quite a bit of glue to get five minutes, just keep adding 🙂
Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous! We made one for my youngest—takes about 6 minutes, perfect for him. And then we made 5 more to give away to friends with young kids. We did it for our daily service act yesterday and had fun while making something to help another. I love how you can change the time it takes to settle from one bottle to another by adding or not adding more glue. Our favorite one ended up being a mix of blue and green glitter together. THANK YOU!
Hi. So I must have done this completely wrong. I added 3/4 hot water, 6 fl oz bottle of elmers glitter glue,.25 oz fine glitter,and 4 fl oz bottle of tackyglue in a smart water bottle . Nothing happens. Can someone email me the exact way to make these bottles. Cutiekaren07@gmail.com
Hi! I LOVE this idea, so I attempted to make one last night. I poured hot water into my bottle and added a small bottle of blue glitter glue and then some ultra fine white glitter. (I didn’t have any clear tacky glue so I didn’t add any of that). My problem is this, it is all blue and sparkly, there’s really no “settling” going on, if that makes sense. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Do we mix it the hot water, glitter glue, and fine glitter with the bottle only semi full to start or something?
I am confused about some of the comments about getting the glue to dissolve.
I made three bottles today. I used 1 4 oz. bottle of clear tacky glue (plus about 1/4 more). I heated my water (about 2-3 cups) in a big bowl for 3 minutes. I added the glue using the whisk to mix it. Then I added my fine glitter and whisked it all together. Then I poured it into a large, smooth, flavored-water bottle that I found at Walmart in the juice section for .33. I added hot water from the faucet to fill the rest of the way up. Shake ’em up and BEAUTIFUL! I got all my supplies at Walmart in the craft/wedding section.
Karo Light Syrup can also be used in these bottles!!! We would mix all kinds of stuff with the Karo!!! You can use beadsand other small stuff!!! Some folks use oil, but if the bottle ever bursts, you have a mess to clean up!! We found that using bottles with a textured outside made the bottle easier to hold for the kids!!! The clear glue sounds great, but it also sounds expensive! Just letting you know that there are options. I must say that I never thought to time how long it takes for the ingredients to settle.
I love these!!! A little tip, if you happen to have coconut oil on hand you don’t need to buy goo gone. Just put a little of it on the sticky stuff and use a scrubber, it comes right off. Also, I learned not to super glue the lid on until the liquid has cooled completely because the bottle kind of warps the bottle. I made one for myself (it has such a calming effect, I had to have one for myself. Let’s face it, grown ups sometimes need timeouts too LOL) so that I would have the kinks worked out when I help my son make his. I got ALL of my supplies at Walmart and it was quite inexpensive.
Our church is making some of these for our bazaar and we used Mineral Oil with the glitter and added a few very small beads with letters on them – one word to a bottle – that spell out things like DOG (OR GOD), HAPPY, LOVE, MAD, etc. You can buy the mineral oil for about $1 a bottle at Wal-Mart and it works great.
So what no glue gust the mineral oil and glitter
Made this with my grandsons tonight. I ran short on glue, so we ended up adding corn syrup to one and honey to the other. I did not use any special glitter and everything turned out fine. The settle time is great and we could really talk about density in a way they understood. We all had a great time, boys age 8 and 6.
Couple things I found on trying it, for those like me who are clueless.
Don’t pour just-was-boiling water into the bottles (many of you are probably saying doh!, but I am *so* not crafty ).
I recommend name brand stuff. I’m cheap. Almost never buy name-brand. But I tried the off-brand and threw that bottle out; it wouldn’t “do right, just stayed clumpy. The name brand even at room temperature dissolved well for me with lots of shaking. (I used Elmer’s)
I put different amounts of glue in different bottles for my different-age children. I have one for each child and one for myself. (for when they’re making me nuts and I need a timeout, I can say…leave me alone for the duration of my bottle settling)
There’s a new (?) brand I found at WalMart called Glaceau FruitWater. The bottles are smaller (16.9 ounces/500 mL) but really really perfect shape/size for this in little hands IMHO. They were $1 apiece but I felt worth it; google it if you want to see why.
I spent $5 on 5 bottles, plus $2.68 each on 2 bottles of Elmer’s Glitter Glue (for different colors; one bottle would have done 4 of these little bottles though. Saved the rest for crafts). I had a lot of different colored fine glitter around already from a craft project earlier in the year, and superglue I keep on hand (hidden!) for cuts and fixing things.
So my total was (including tax) about $11 for 5 bottles. (I could have gotten cheaper bottles obviously.) Probably would have been about $20 with glitter (?)
Making more is cheaper per bottle, so it would be a great playdate project for moms or whatever.
With the smaller bottles obviously you use a lot less stuff. I didn’t use the tacky glue at all.
And I used peanut butter for label goo removal.
Don’t use red glitter glue and orange glitter. The color isn’t pretty.
I just made a couple of these for my kids. Brilliant idea, and very good for a kid with ADD and ODD
This is such a simple yet brilliant idea. I am gonna try it very soon. 🙂
I just made one for my toddler. I didnt have glitter glue but i had glitter paint and it seems to be working just fine. I did red glitter paint and put some gold and silver loose glitter and dyed my water orange. It reminds me of dragons fire. so that’s what we call it! I also made and ocean one with baby oil and dyed water with a few sea creatures. Thanks for the tip!
I made these for my children and used glow in the dark glitter glue in addition to the ultra fine glitter. My children use them in their rooms at bedtime. I loaded it up with the glitter glue so it takes about 15 min or longer to settle. The rule is they are not allowed to get out of their beds until the glitter settles. It’s been about a week and the kids have fallen asleep in their beds every night 🙂
I’m going to make 24 of these for my daughter’s school craft fundraiser. Can you tell me exactly what brand of glitter glue you used and how much? Since I’m making these in bulk, I want to make sure I get the correct supplies!
So you have to use the clear gel glue AND glitter glue?
Yep, although some readers have done it with only glitter glue
And some have done it with only clear glue and glitter (no glitter glue)
Thank you for posting this! I’m 29 and don’t have any children, but I made one for myself to keep on my desk at work to help with anxiety and work-related stress. I love it! It was so soothing to watch that I made one for my supervisor who has a stressful job. For mine, I used dark pinkish-purple glitter glue, an iridescent white glitter glue, pale pink glitter, and a couple drops of red food coloring to tint the water. My supervisor’s has water that’s tinted with a couple drops each of blue and green food coloring, so it’s a turquoise color. Based on the response, I think I’ve started a trend at the office. Thank you again for sharing!
crazy blessed: what a great idea!! I also deal with a child who FREAKS on me when I’m trying to put her on time out, kicking, hitting…..can you explain what you do now with the glitter bottle and your daughter when its time for a time-out? I would appreciate it!!
Found this via a friend on Facebook and I am DEFINITELY going to try it out! My daughter doesn’t throw a lot of tantrums, but she is very difficult to get to settle down before bedtime and the like, so if there’s a chance this could help relax her, I’m all for it! Thanks for sharing!
They look really cool with the plastic Voss water bottles, too! http://lastmom.com/calming-glitter-bottles/
Ok so maybe I missed it but what are the measurements for the 5min timeout the amounts of each needed.
So I’m wondering if I can make this for a longer time than 5 minutes? My kids have to read for 20 minutes a night and it would be so cool to use this as a timer! Do you think it’s possible? maybe more glue?
She said that she experimented with a timer to get the 5 minutes (Im sure its not exact each time) so maybe start with lots of glue to slow it down or glycerin as others have suggested.
I made 2 bottles and mine is and 8ish and a 15ish minute one. I used the larger liter bottles. You just add more of the clear glue. I had to tinker with mine several times to get it to the times I wanted.
In snow globes, they use glycerin to thicken the water. It would work here too, if you didn’t want to use the glue. Glycerin can usually be found in the baking section of a well stocked store.
Wow, thanks for sharing!! This might actually work miracles in our house!
I wonder if glyserin would work as well as the clear glue? Years ago (ok, decades) it was quite inexpensive.
What a great idea! I could make a few of these and give them to my daughters to use for their kids. I just wanted to remind everyone to be careful of the colors you use. Some colors are not as relaxing as others.
What a great idea to have a time out bottle of sparklies. I will have to remember this for when my little girl is a little older and actually understands what a time out is. Thanks for the great idea.
I had just made one of these this morning, before I saw your post, to use as an illustration of Abraham and the stars for my preschool Sunday School (I used blue and silver glitter and blue food coloring so it looks like a night sky). The idea is to think of as many of God’s promises before it settles. I made it for preschool, but my 9 year old loves it.
Do u have to make a new on each time, reheat it or once you make it, does the glue stay melted?
My 12 year old has MAJOR issues with settling and I think these would be good for him. His Asperger’s really gives him some challenges. Anyone have any ideas what to use for fill erin a 12 yr old boy’s bottle?
These are amazing! I pinned it on Pintrest so I can hopefully do these someday when I have kids (or even before, they seem great for adults too). I thought of a little ditty that (again, if I remember) I may write on the bottles in Sharpie for my kids. It still may need a little fine tuning, but I thought the jist of it was cute regardless.
“When our attitude isn’t okay,
maybe it hasn’t been our day.
Shake up this bottle and take a seat,
let’s focus our energy on something neat.
Take a deep breath, count to ten,
and in five mins we’ll be fine again.”
The bottles are super cool just plain too, I think I’d have a hard time deciding if I really wanted to put words on them or not.
I love it! I am going to use that on mine if you don’t mind!!
You may want to try corn syrup or glycerin instead of the gel glue as they will dissolve much easier and still give the gel-like consistency that you are trying for.
Great idea, it’s reached as far as Northern Ireland and Scotland now 🙂 I just got some cool blue and green off eBay for my little nearly 4 year old. hope it works! X
What a wonderful idea! I really haven’t had any issues with behavior and instead of time out use… I’m going to use it to encourage patience. One of my 4 girls has a very hard time understanding the waiting game. Thank you for the great idea!
Great! I’ve studied colour therapy in depth, and choosing colours for the bottles could be very important depending on the offense committed. Using a red bottle on a child who had a temper tantrum may be counter productive, as red stimulates passions and physical activity. If the child’s time out is for laziness or an unwillingness to perform a chore, etc., then the red would work perfectly. RED – ENERGY, ORANGE – EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION, YELLOW – COMMUNICATION/INTELLECT, GREEN – SOOTHING, LOVE, GROWTH, BLUE – CREATIVE EXPRESSION, PEACE, INDIGO – INTROSPECTION/MEDITATION, PURPLE – OPENS UP TO SPIRITUAL POWER, HIGHER IDEALS AND CREATIVITY. Hope this helps.
I love this idea. My grandson hasn’t really needed time out…but he can get real hyper at times this may work to calme him down.
I made one for my son. Used glow in the dark glitter glue and green glitter. Does anyone else have some of the glitter staying at the top? Whats the solution for that?
I have a 9 year old who I am going to try this on. I never feel like anything I do teaches her the lesson she needs to learn. She is an intense personality and definitely could benefit from something to calm her and refocus her mind!!! Thank you for sharing this.
Just one question you only need to do the hot water once? Or do you need to make a new one everyday? I love this idea. It’ll help since the current time out doesn’t work. I have triplets turning three in dec
This is a great idea I will be making one for myself tomorrow! I know this could really help me focus and wind down my anxiety and panic attacks and I know this would be an excellent idea for my spunky little niece! My only suggestion is ditch the goo gone! Peanut butter is an excellent adhesive remover it is cheap too even a small dollar store bottle will do the trick to remove the sticky stuff from the bottle! Just be careful of those pesky peanut allergies! Seriously AWESOME IDEA! Thank you for sharing!!
Books, crayons and coloring books, teady bear or doll for hugging are good too. It should be a place to help calm down. Not a punishment. I think we adults could use our own place like this too 🙂
I WANT TIME OUT ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I use bottles with childproof lids. Scope bottles, Pepto Bismol bottles work well also. This way you don’t need to worry about a spill. Ever. 🙂
I am excited to try this for my sensory folks in a skilled nursing facility. I am really looking forward to it and appreciate the great idea.
I love this idea! I’m definitely going to try it. Contrary to the stereotype about girls being drama queens, it’s my son who needs to simmer down from time to time. 🙂 P.S. I’m a youth minister’s wife and stay-at-home mom too! (And freelance writer.) Thanks for the idea!
Marvelous! I’m sharing this with my daughter and her young friends who are parents. P.S. I’m making one for my house too! I may use it more than my grandson whom I babysit. Thanks!!! 🙂
Great idea! I will be passing this along to our preacher and sweet wife, who have 3 1/2 yr old quadruplets…..on second thought, maybe I’ll just make them some myself. Now to address your issue of gluing body parts together, if that happens all you need to do is get a container large enough to put the body part(s) and or the object in that you maybe glued to; add DISTILLED VINEGAR (enough to cover the glued areas). It will take 30 for SUPER GLUE to start to dissolve but this does work! I have had to use this method several times! PS you can either pour the vinegar back into the bottle (or one to use for cleaning purposes)…I use old shampoo bottle (makes it easy to squirt) to clean my toilets. GOD BLESS ALL YOU STAY AT HOME MOMS….AND DOUBLE BLESS THE ONES THAT AREN’T ABLE TO!!! FROM A CRAZY BLESSED WIFE AND GRAMMY!!!
Please forgive me if this has been asked (or answered and I somehow breezed right by it)… BUT… does the glue start to get hard again when the water is no longer warm? (I am envisioning clumps of glue floating in water) TIA
No. Once you once the glitter glue is dissolved it is gone. The tacky glue gives it that “jelly” look.
Help. My glitter is staying suspended after about 2 minutes of settling. Do I need more water to get it to settle out? I am thinking I added too much glue.
Reblogged this on Whats Up and commented:
What a great idea this is – I can’t wait to try it and post more!
What a great idea!
I saw this on Facebook and am going to make one… two… no three… ( for my twins and ME!!!) ASAP!!! Thank you! (p.s. my husband homeschools the twins … I work FT, plan the curriculum, and sub when he needs a break)
I would love to try one of these but I dont see a recipe. Thanks!
I wish u would sell them I would love to buy it. I tried to make a purple one it failed ugh
Love your idea and resolution. But if you teach your kids to meditate it may also resolve much of the drama that leads to the time outs.
“Next I filled each bottle with about 3/4 (* edit 5-3-12, I used hot water so that the glue “melted” better… room temp or cold will cause it to stay separate) water, an entire bottle of glitter glue and a small tube of ultra fine glitter.”
How much glue did you add??
Thanks for sharing this! I have a child I work with that I think this would be wonderful for since he gets worked up easily. I can’t wait to try it.
Hey all just looking for some advice if anyone has any… There is a little boy I work with at my placement who is very hyper active (he has not been diagnosed as he is only 5 years old) so he can’t sit still for very long unless he is doing something or moving in some way. He is often put in a time out because he doesn’t like to keep his hands to himself (total separate issue) and lately I have been talking him for a quick walk around the school to let him calm down and think about why he has been asked to leave the classroom… just wondering if anyone has any other ideas or suggestions i could use to get him to sit during timeout im going to try this water bottle glitter idea just wondering if theres any other ideas.
Thank you for this!! My 4 year old is doing the same thing your daughter was doing. I can’t wait to make some of these, I know it will get him to relax. This is genius!
I wish this was.known 33 yrs ago. thanks for sharing
When I worked in day care we made these all the time.kids loved them…so suggestions to do if she gets bored, 8s maoe glue and glitter thinner..sometimes u can do tuis just by adding veggie oil and glitter w very little water in the bottle..put a few marbles inside the bottle, the kids like to watch the marbles float around when they turn the bottle upside down.
As more of an experiment..not for time out…u can also add diffr things to the bottle w nothing but the objects like (marbles, yarn, little rocks, sea shells, diffr size marbles, play cars..anything u want)… this helps them learn the different weights of things…example how a 1/2 bottle of marbles is much heavier than a bottle full w string..or we would also teach weight by usimg color sand to fill buttles up at diffr levels…just fyi…..there are tons and tons of things to do w old water bottles
Shoot… my son is 17, but I could still use this.. WONDERFUL post!
Reblogged this on momeefriendsli and commented:
This is a wonderful idea for a time out. Relaxing a child while in time out is a wonderful idea. Great Momees thinking of easy solutions Thank you My Crazy Blessed Life! : )
I did something similar but just for a relaxing activity.. love this idea!
http://momeefriendsli.com/2013/03/27/glitter-water-bottle/
How perfect is this? I have a T1D son and when low, we aren’t suppose to correct only because he can’t help his moods. It takes about 5 minutes to bring his sugars up so how awesome for him! I can’t wait to make this with him and let him know ahead of time what he will get to look at when he can’t focus!!!
I must thank you! These are AWESOME! A friend recently posted your link on FB and I had to try them. I have now made 2 – one as a “consequence” bottle for my 4 yr old. Especially since the 8 and 6 year old’s have their consequences (losing iPad, Rainbow Loom, etc for a period of time) for things they have done. The little one doesn’t have anything that I can take away without her going to find something else. This keeps her attention so well!! I sit it on the counter in the kitchen and she sits on her stool and watches it. I have used it twice so far with her (things may change) but she didn’t want to go the second time because she knew she couldn’t get up or talk the entire time. I made one bottle at 8ish minutes and the other is a 15ish minute one (since I found the older two it would work on). Thanks again!!
We found another use in our house!! My husband suffers from extreme back pain and is awaiting surgery. He took his medicine and watched it … It gave his medicine time to kick in and “sort of” took his mind of the pain.
It’s a great idea and should get patented, and can be the next big thing in stores.
Kids and grandkids grown up now – but stress continues :o) I have a dear friend going through chemo. Going to make one for her – to help her calm while waiting for anti-nausea meds to kick in. My heart breaks for her – and this will remind her that I care and that I’m praying for her every day. Great idea – even for old folks!
My husband used my 15 minute one last night. He suffers from extreme back pain. We are waiting on surgery to be scheduled. It actually took his mind “sort of” off the pain until the pain medicine kicked in.
Wow iam so going to try this out my daughter has adhd and time outs are a nightmare with her heres hoping it will work as well for her
Reblogged this on Andie Richards and commented:
This is an amazing idea!
That is really cool looking. Love the colors you chose. Your little girl is a cutie.
I could use one of these at the office. 🙂
Anyone actually measure the glitter/water ratio for various settling times? Just wondered–thought it’d save experimentation. 🙂
You’re a frickin’ genius!!
Thanks! I am a nana caring for two little ones 17 months, and 7 months. A total of 10 months apart. The younger one watches EVERYTHING the older one does. This will definitely help with time out, and her efforts to escape!
I am a care giver for my granddaughter 3 days a week. She’s 4. She’s full of drama! I needed this to use for time outs. I made it in a 16.9oz bottle using 2 ounces of the glitter glue, a small container of glitter and the rest water. It mixed okay but this does not work. I checked it at 5 minutes and it had not settled. It started off clear. I just checked it at 10 minutes and it’s starting to settle. I really want this to work. What do I do?
That makes so much sense – if there too worked up, it just takes forever and everyone is frustrated. These are very pretty, I’m pinning this to use later, as I’m sure my baby will one day end up in time out! 😉
Blessings,
Nicole @ WKH
I think something like this could make a great tooth brush time for my toddler
Wow, what a great idea ! Thank you for sharing this !
A big THANK YOU from Vienna / Austria !
Andrea
I just made one for my son. He loves Iron Man, so we made it Iron Man colors, red and gold. I used red glitter glue, then ultra fine gold and red glitter. It looks great!
Forget the kids. I think a time-out bottle would be therapeutic for me! Not that I am throwing tantrums, just think I might feel calmer inside.
I have a 2 year old son and an 8 year old step-daughter. She has had a rough life and has been diagnosed with adhd, RAD(reactive attachment disorder I am convinced is the roughest disorder to work through in a child) and ODD(oppositional defiance disorder). Her behaviors have improved leaps and bounds in the year she has lived in our house but I would still like to see if there are therapeutic benefits to using these as I’m not an advocate for throwing kids on medications such as the ritalin she’s on but without it the RAD comes out in all its ugly violent colors to the point I wouldn’t feel safe for her to be alone with any pet or her brother off her medication– a problem I constantly look for ways to repair so she’s not dependent on it her whole life. Ironically you posted this on her birthday.
This is amazing! I’m definitely going to do this for my son and share with my cousin whose little one is creeping up on her terrible twos. I never would have thought of something this creative.
Reblogged this on Single Parenting and commented:
This is a fantastic idea I can’t wait to try out.
can You use ultra fine glitter ? or just fine glitter ? and how much? about a small container ?
made 3 of these today 🙂 wasn’t able to get it to time lol but it is a great mind meditation for an overwhelmed 10yr old 😀 THANKS
This is a fantastic idea! My son is just a little thing, but I’m definitely going to use it for when he gets older.
I just have a quick question. I know you did this project several years ago, and I’m curious to see if it still works really well as a calming mechanism/timer for your daughter’s time out now that the initial oohhs and aahhs have come and gone.
I really need to do an update post! Yes it has been two years now and we still use them. They look pretty much the same as when I first made them. Which is something I worried about when I first made them. I thought they might become cloudy or beat up over time. I think choosing kinda nicer and more expensive water bottles paid off in the long run because they have held up so well. My daughter is now at a point where sometimes she feels herself getting upset or frustrated and will ask for her bottle to help her calm down. We do one min timeout for each year old they are and I made hers five min long so it would last (so glad I did so I didn’t have to make a new one each year). When she was three or four I knew how much to shake it up so it settled in about three or four min instead of fully shaking it so it took five. I think it has become more effective over time since they know the purpose now and let it relax them and have something to watch the time until they can play again.
I have all the items I think I need. Elmer’s classics glitter glue (6oz), clear gel tacky glue (4 oz) and 2 small packs of fine glitter ( total of .14 oz). Not a super crafty dad so I was hoping these are the right items. I have twin girls 3 years of age that these should be perfect for. Do I use all the elmer’s glue in the water bottle then add the addtional glitter, then add water and tacky glue as needed for time? Thanks!
Yes please do an update post! Is it possible to write the procedure out like a recipe instead of a narrative? I followed the directions but mine (I tried twice) look horrible. I am so frustrated.
Just came across this and they look wonderful! I was thinking a small one would make a great teeth-brushing timer! But also great gifts for my kids and our 10 nieces and nephews for Christmas. I was thinking I may put their names on them but puffy paint seems like it would peel off… Nail polish maybe? But that may not show up against the glitter. Any ideas? Thanks…
How about laminating some simple Bible verses to put in the bottle?
I just made mine today, and my son LOVES it. I only used 3/4 of a bottle of the glitter glue (because my husband wanted some for a project lol. So I used 1 1/2 bottles of the Aleens’ with Gold, Red, and Crystal glitter. I did find that you HAVE to fill it all the way up to the very top because any air in there causes the glitter to sort of “stick” at the top.
Does anyone know if washable glitter glue will affect this in a negative way??? I accidentally bought the washable kind and am now nervous to try it…..
bravo…
What an awesome idea! I went and made these in 4 colors. My kids are hooked 🙂
I just wanted to point out that since the idea is to fill up the bottles with warm/hot water to melt the glue, it is imperative to let the water cool down before superglueing the cap on. I made the mistake of doing that with the first bottle I made and I couldn’t figure out why a couple of hours later, the bottle seemed more flimsy. I realized that the heat of warm water made it expand, and as it cooled down, it contracted. When I let the other cool off, air replaced the expansion from the heat and then I glued it shut.
I love this idea…I just made two…pink and blue for my kids. I used two elmers gliiter glue and hot water…that’s it! smart water bottle, two glue, 1/2 hot water then add more HOT water til full…works like a charm! so easy my 4 year old made his own!! thank you!!
Love this! I actually see it as a great party favor/craft for my daughter’s birthday…except I just read the part about hot water!!! Question: could I pre-mix the hot water and glue, and then leave the bottles open for the kids to add their own glitter/stuff mix at the party, before a grown-up glues them shut?
Great job. Awesome idea, thanks.
We made small ones for my 2 and 3 year olds just to play with. The milk bottles from Wendy’s fast food restaurants are perfect. And the lable just peeled off easy. It was much simpler than the water bottles we used the first time.
I am planning on making this for my daughter, but just curious on what size glitter glue bottle did you use?
I think this idea has helped so many people, from reading the first few comments! I didn’t read through all of them (there are tons, RAD!)… I’m thinking about adding some silver star glitter… I’ll let you know!
OMG this is brilliant! Wish I would have had them while raising my triplets! Thanks for sharing…
Johanna: You’re doing it RIGHT! Carry on!
This is such a great idea. I am so glad I ran across this. Is it okay to share on my blight with credit of course?
That should read blog. ツ
Of course 🙂
Pure leaf tea bottles have plastic label, no glue to remove.
Also great for teaching colors to my grandsons.
How long does this take to settle ? Thanks
This is super cute and fun. c:
I just made two. 🙂 I stuck them in the fridge before super gluing the lids on so that I still have the ability to tweak them while still seeing the “room temp” result.
I made one and now it doesn’t mix very easy. I did all the tricks, warm water not too much glue. But now most if the glue and glitter just sit on the bottom and it’s really hard to get it going again. Do you need to leave a air bubble in there? Any other ideas? I’ve superglued it closed, so I will have to start from scratch.
How much glue?
Excellent idea, thanks for sharing! I as well have a little Bella and his would work really well!! I have a 7 and 9 year old and this would be great for them as well!!
Just a note. I think that a soft fabric paint like Jones Tones would work great. You can get it with the glitter already in it, or you can add glitter. Jones Tones paints are glue based. I imagine that the Tulip soft fabric paint is glue based too.
it sounds like you truly are blessed, i am now following you now on twitter and i like your blog, i dont know you but i am a mother of 5 and my youngest is now 12 and my oldest is 20. God Bless You and your family! You have great ideas, and you seem very creative, I am too, how did your 1/2 marathon go? I started back to school after 25 years, and I am getting an A in my class.Well I just wanted to say I like your Blog, its awesome, check out my stuff on you tube and fb if u want, are you in California?
Lisa Dawn Holeman-Drndarski
This looks like a fantastic project! Thank you for posting this!
May I make one “technical” correction? The glue doesn’t “melt” it dissolves.
It just happens to be a pet peeve of mine that people confuse these so often.
If something changes state from solid to liquid, it melts (e.g. sugar becoming caramel-it melts then browns). If something (solid OR liquid) gets incorporated into a liquid (e.g. sugar “disappearing” into water to make simple syrup), it dissolves.
Soapbox moment over… Thanks again for this great post!
Wow. That is awesome. I want to make one for me at work. Customer service with people can get you upset. This can calm me down then.
I’m not sure I get it…One whole bottle of glitter glue & glitter…but how much of the gel glue? Just to get it the right consistency? I’m a bit confused….want to make one for my 2 1/2 year old grandson who is driving his mother mad. (maybe one for my house, too!)
Has anyone tried doing this with smaller bottles? I would love to try this, but my son is only 2, and I think 5 minutes is much too long of a time out for his age. What proportions did you use if you did make a smaller one.
How much Tacky glue? I read it three times and I don’t see how much? Please advise, I love this idea!
great idea!! i feel like I need to remember this in the far…far future when I have children…
This is a really good idea for a normal child. How do you think a 23 year old down syndrome young man would fair with one of these? He likes to throw things just to hear the sound it makes.
thanks for sharing this I will have to make one for my son. Probably me to see as I come home from work stress out a lot.
I think this is a great idea. I would like to add something from my own experience. When my kids were little, I had the same problem with the screaming, kicking, etc. We changed Time-Out from a punishment to a “you need to calm down” period. We would send my daughter to her room, with the instruction she could come out whenever she felt ready to be sociable again. Sometimes it took a few minutes, and sometimes it took an hour. And sometimes it ended in a nap! 🙂 But it saved all of our sanities, and took away the ‘punsihment’ aspect of it, since most misbehaviior is really just the child not knowing how to deal with her emotions. It taught her how to calm herself down, and that other people don’t want to be with you when you behave this way.
To make her focus even more you could put markings (or stickers) at 1 minute intervals for different ‘degrees’ of time-out. Then she could watch until it gets to that particular marking instead of the full 5 minutes. (Time out should be 1 minute per each year of age.) Also, be sure to put it away as soon as the time-out is over. After all, there is a lesson to be learned here and a conversation should take place after the little one is calm as to why this time-out happened.
Hi! A yoga teacher friend sent me this link in response to a talk we had about teaching school kids to relax. My question is if this causes kids to want to go to time out. Do you make it available at other times and if so does it lose its appeal? Other thoughts? Thanks!
What a brilliant idea! my sons are 2 years 6 days apart currently ages 5 and 7. This would be perfect for all those meltdowns I have …. thanks for sharing!
Reblogged this on among the savages and commented:
Pretty cool. If I still had kids I would add this to my “things to do” list.
I.think this is a great idea. My son has ADHD and i am always looking for.something just to relax him. I dont know that ibwould.use.it on time out simply because i.can see my child getting in.trouble just to get the glitter jar lol. But all ib all awesome idea thank.you for sharing.
These would be great at school with some our students and those at sps
1 Bottle of glitter glue
1 Bottle of clear glue gel
1 tube of ultra fine glitter
3/4 cup hot water
Is that right?
Yes, except that when she said 3/4 I believe that she meant she filled the bottle up 3/4 of the way to the top. That left her room to be able to add more glue or more water if needed to adjust the settling time. Hope that helps.
Thanks Johanna,
I’m also a Minister’s wife here in Australia (he’s American) and although my children are older, I manage playgroups for children with Autism across Victoria, Australia. I have forwarded your idea to my workers for them to consider using in their groups and to share with parents. Good work.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful solution for parents, teachers, caregivers anyone who loves and cares for children! Thank you too Sheri Dee for posting this
Awesome idea! However I apologize for all the lazy people who refused to read the comments before asking the same questions you already answered several dozen times. You must have the patience of a saint!
Reblogged this on Artsymom's Balancing Act and commented:
I love this idea…can’t wait to try this for my boys.
This is an awesome idea!!
http://trishaperry01.eatlessfeelfull.com/
was also wondering if a mixture of glycerin and water might work as well. Wonderful idea – thanks for posting!
Have you timed this? I wonder how long it takes for the glitter to settle. I’m curious how long the time out actually is.
My kids are 49, 47 and 42….way to late for them, but one grandson who is 22 ,still has some emotional, ADHD problems , and will probably always live at home, I think he would probably take to something like this. I will be giving him one this Christmas, and I will soon have my second great grandchild, the first is just 1year old and her mama is having #2 in May, I can foresee some problems arising there with baby jealousy etc. There are several 2,3 yr olds that I need to make presents for. Great idea, sure wish I had one of my own when my oldest and youngest would gang up against the perfect middle child. My mother, an experienced kindergarten teacher always said the middle one was good on purpose to make her brother and sister look bad. But she’s the one with the Masters degree and CPA.
Great idea
Just a note: Instead of superglue, try using a 5-minute epoxy to glue the lid shut. These two-part glues work better than most cyanoacrylate adhesives, IMHO, and would fill in the threads of the cap better.
Try an oil and distilled water version. It separates creating “waves” it is another relaxation tool to have in the arsenal.
For all of you microwave water boilers, glass does not cause bubbles in water at the actual boiling point. The surface is too smooth. You need to add a chopstick or something of the sorts that will not melt, but has texture.
Love this, Such a great idea.
This worked great ! I don’t suggest extremely hot water being poured into the bottle, I tried that and as I was pouring the water in the bottle it started to deform… the water must be hot, yes but not very hot. about 1-2 mins in the microwave should be good depending on your microwave … this took a lot of “test runs” pouring some out.. adding more water…. just have to mess with it until you get it perfect, but all in all I love this idea and can’t wait to try it out !
OK that is genius. I gotta make one of these. Thanks so much!
Hello, I liked the idea.My son has several emotion problems. He get frustrated quickly and if we can’t calm him down he goes into a rage with screaming and hitting and harming himself or others. I think this is going to be a good idea to use for him. My only question is how do you determine the minutes?
I do one minute for each year old they are. Example a 5 year old would get a bottle that falls in about 5 minutes. I just experimented adding glue and water until I got the timing I needed.
What did you use the tacky glue for? Does it go in the bottle with the gel glue?
Shauna Tanner
This is a terrific idea. My grand son could use this to help him calm down and relax!! Focusing on the glitter settling will take his mind off of himself.
Reblogged this on Daily MicRealy and commented:
I love this idea. With almost a two year little girl we’re already entering into the terrible 2’s.. So I think I’m gonna give this a try!
What a great idea! Thanks for the post.
half my glitter is sitting on top, what is the issue?
I read this post while tearing my hair out as a working mom with two jobs and 5 kids, and I love this idea, but all I keep doing is going back to the photos and thinking, “How is it possible for someone with children to have such a clean kitchen?!” I am definitely making these bottles but will probably spend my day off cleaning., too!
HELP!! IS there any reason that my glitter would float to the top? Some of is settles at the bottom, but a lot of it floats up and stays on top of the water…. 😦
I hope I’m not overlooking the answer to my question but I’ve read it 3 times and didn’t see it. Your supposed to do 1 min per the child’s age for time out. So how do you know by the settle down bottle how long the child has been sitting?
FANTASTIC!!! Oh, how I wish I had had this when my children were little!
I love this and will be making one today. I’ve been struggling a little with the frustration tanties, but know that it’s not just bad behavior. My little Mr is 2yrs with so much to say and express but the words just aren’t coming fast enough. I think these are such a clever and beautiful alternative. Maybe hubby & I need one each too…hehehe! Will post the outcome. Thank you!
i love these ideas
I made this and some of the glitter floats to the top. Did I use too much glitter? And it settles pretty quick and I used a bottle of glue (and a 1.5 Fiji bottle)
This is amazing! Both of my boys have autism and time outs rarely do anything but increase the meltdown, but these MIGHT help! Also my youngest doesn’t understand the concept of time and waiting, so having something to watch, knowing when it’s all at the bottom it will be “his turn” would be something he could understand! Thanks!
Thanks this is amazing
Thanks this is amazing i going to try thison my tthree year old could even take it out because for me that’s when time outs and behaviour management are the hardest
How much glued do you put in??
I would have a special designated soft area (safe area) somewhere for the child to relax/wind down while looking at the bottle. Add pillows, mirror, soft surface..etc., I use this in my classroom for preschoolers.
Great idea but found it humorous that you didn’t want your child to “meditate” when that is what is happening… meditation is healthy for all ages and just boils down to calmly being in the moment without attachment to ego or emotion…. I foresee that this time of a “time out tool” would be a great learning tool all their lives on how to learn how to deal with conflict.
Fantastic idea!! I did something like this for my daughter who was afraid to go to bed cuz her closet scared her. We took a cute, small, spray bottle from the dollar store, put some larger glitter in it, filled it with water, added glittery ribbon around the lid….. it was her magic fairy spray that kept her safe at night time. (The monsters were afraid of fairy spray)
Worked like a charm. she sprayed her room every night and slept like a lamb.
Help! I did this exactly as you said and it isn’t working!!! Some of the glitter is floating on the top and some just is not settling. I only used half a bottle of the clear glue since my bottle is half the size of yours….now what?! 😦 I did use very warm water…very…so it should have been ok that way. It’s kind of expensive to start all over…so how can I fix it?
Reblogged this on edgewood missions.
This looks absolutely fun and amazing to have. I LOVE GLITTER, so I would love to make one of these. Is there any way that you can make a video showing us how you make it? 🙂 It would be extremely helpful, and will give us the right idea on how to make these. Thank you!
By the way, your daughter is so beautiful!
Could someone please list the EXACT ingredients needed to make one of these? Thank you
What a clever idea! I’m currently doing my Bachelors degree in Child Studies and we were just learning about time-out. I think a lot of parents and teachers have this idea that time out is supposed to be a punishment, but in reality it’s supposed to calm your child back down to square one. This is a wonderful idea! Very calming and relaxing 🙂
You can also get item (plastc things like a lego, a ball ect) and make it hide & seek. 😉
Great!!!!
Does anyone know…is it possible to add some kind of glow paint or agent to this mix, so it would glow in the dark after recharging under light? Could you somehow pour in , or use glow paint, THEN add the water, glue and glitter so the bottle almost becomes a portable self lit lava/glitter lamp?
I was just thinking it would be a great way to entertain and relax the kids on night car rides etc.
Do you think this would help with an ADHD child who is almost 12. Gets agitated a lot.
Trying this for sure… My two year old is the same way…
Mine did not come out like that at all. Guess I should have mixed everything first and not in the bottle. How long should it take for glitter to fall? It seems very slow.
epic!
Just made one and wondering why some glitter is floating to the top and some settling at the bottom?
I love that you wanted to go in time out too. I feel the same way, looking at those pretty bottles in your pics. Thanks for posting. My toddler is 2 now and doesn’t need this yet but I anticipate she may so I’ve bookmarked it!
Are you in America or can I get these products in uk? I have made these with just flitter and water but I want to have a go using the clear gel and glow in the dark things now x
I tired this once but my jar didn’t work! Ill have to follow your directions and hope ill get the result you did!
I was also told by my daughters psychiatrist to make or get and bottle filled with rice and put little tiny colorful things in it. This way they have to search for them and it calms them. There is a mind game you can get that had the bottle type things in them with a book that has pictures and a list of what to find that’s both in the bottle and in the picture. My daughter loved it when she was at her doctors appointments.
Half the glitter floats to the top, half to the bottom. I used ultra-fine glitter, I think may that is what is floating, and the glitter from the glitter glue is settling. Anyone else have this issue?
My thought is … do you have different times, possibly indicated by different colors? That would seem helpful to me. Flame on with new and different awareness, and interactions!
How did you get the swirl in the picture? I love mine, but shaken it is more like the pictures of Bella using the bottle, just sparkles falling. I made these for myself. I have anxiety issues and it’s a quick way to refocus.
It is swirly for only a few seconds after shaking then returns to just falling glitter.
mine settles to fast and I know I have to use clear glue to slow the proces…but when I due that I can start all over again because the glue sticks together and becomes white in stead of staying transparent. Is there any other way to slow the proces? Or does anyone knows a brand of glue that I can use and that you find in Belgium?
thx
xx
My daughter is 7 and had low tone and ADHD and this works wonders to keep her calm.
Excellent idea! I used to make bottles like that, but for when they were crawling. No glue, just water, food coloring and glitter, and let them roll it on the floor and follow it. The timer idea never occurred to me. I think it’s pretty neat.
Loved this idea. Would you be able to tell me the bottle size? I am wanting to make this for my friends little one.
I tried this and so far, I’ve have quite a bit of foam and not much of swirl. Any suggestions?
Hi! Currently making these… how do you get rid of the foaming bubbles at the top? Will they go away as the water cools? I think we may have used too much glitter cause we can’t get the blue one to settle very well…
I had the same problem, I filled with more water so the foam spilled out the top
Hi! We’re making these right now. How do you get rid of the foamed bubbles at the top after shaking? Will they go away as the water cools? I think we might have put too much glitter in our blue one–it’s not wanting to settle
I have this same issue. Anyone have a solution?
Beautiful, I just hope that the topics super glued? Might be just didn’t read entire article due too running aground children 🙂
I just made one for my daughter and the glitter is just sitting on the top. Not sure what I did wrong? Does the glitter have to say “fine” for it to be fine? Do you think my glitter is too large? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
How big was your Smart water bottle? We just picked up the 16.9 oz. bottles. There was a bigger one… I didn’t know if I needed to adjust measurements. Also, we couldn’t find swirl glitter but I’m assuming that glitter glue & very fine glitter will work? I have the clear tacky glue too! Thanks! This will be a fun project for my girls!!!
just tried this and it worked great- only backfired a little, my daughter couldn’t wait to get in trouble so she could use her new bottle!! the novelty wore off pretty quick though 🙂 thanks for the great idea!
I wanted to make one for my sister for her birthday so I came up with the following instructional poem. When you’re feeling stressed and need a break, grab this has and shake, shake, Shake. Watch the glitter start to fall, and sanity will begin to call. Let your troubles melt away, so you can get back to your day.
Omg! I need this for my five year old daughter.I will be making this today. I’m guessing I can get the supplies at an arts and craft store?
Did you use a 20 oz bottle or the larger one?
And, since everyone is fussing over the boiling/ hot water in the microwave comment….. I boiled tap water in a kettle, then poured it over tea bags into a glass pitcher. It exploded & I was severely burned (severe & moderate 2nd degree). Doesn’t matter what kind of water, how long it is heater, or how it is heated, it can be harmful & one should be careful handling it.
Did anyone try white glue instead of a clear glue?
Wish I would have seen this in 2004 when I had mine. But it looks awesome. Thanks for sharing.
I have girls, but I am going to do blue and/or green. The thought occurred to me to research the most relaxing and meditative colors. Blue and green was mentioned the most. I think regardless of if it’s proven scientifically, it was a pretty cool idea to incorporate. 🙂
I believe I have some conflict resolution. I went to two Michaels and they were both out of the clear gel glue. I used a similar clear glue that technically wasn’t GEL! It was nothing but a big gloppy mess! I found the right glue at Hobby Lobby after a kitchen full of glitter and two ruined bottles! I finally made it and it’s beautiful but my glitter glue didn’t make it in my bag. 😦 It still turned out beautiful.. I just used the entire bottle of gel, which produces a 3-5 minutes settle time depending on what you call settled.
I work at a preschool, and desperately needed something for a student who was absolutely not able to self-regulate his emotions. I whipped up a batch of these in different colors using smaller 12oz bottles, and they are a huge hit! We use them as relax bottles instead of time out bottles, and all the kids love them. I put some shaped sequins in, so we can use them to learn about colors and shapes as well!
Thank you for sharing this adorable idea. I wish I had it when my children were growing up. Better than a Lava lamp.
Just made two of these- store was out of clear glue so the worker recommended glycerin (used in good products and snow globes). I made one bottle with just glitter glue and glitter- it took about five minutes to settle, perfect! I decided to make another one with the glycerin so it would go slower….the glycerin made everything drop like rocks! The glycerin bottle looks amazing but it settled in less then a minute. You live you learn I guess.
My best friend sent me this link for my almost three year old. I teach freshman in high school though hand while I was working on making my first bottle (at work), my freshman were mesmerized. I am making some over the holiday break to take with me to work for my students. I took and added a spin to mine. Idk what the glow in the dark one looks like bc I didn’t follow the link, but we decided to put plastic confetti in one bottle and glow in the dark letter beads in another. I love this and so does my daughter (as well as my high school kids). Best idea I’ve seen in a while!!
Love this idea!! I have an almost 2 3/4 year old that is acting out a lot and I am similarly dissatisfied with time outs as you were. Once she gets upset saying or doing anything just makes it worse. Definitely going to give this a try! I would also love to hear any other strategies you found in your research!!
A possible thought for those who are having problems with glue just turning to lumps, I bought clear glue which is acetone based…and it doesn’t work at all. So maybe check that you are using water based glue which will disolve
I have found my daughter’s identical twin! I had noticed your blog and saw the picture of your daughter and thought it was my little girl at first. My little one is Bailey and she is 5. But they look just alike! 🙂 But I think the time out bottle is a amazing idea and I cant wait to try it! Thank You 🙂
My son was saying the other day he likes to have something to focus on while he is in time out. I am definitely going to make him one of these.
Is that 3/4 CUPs water or 3/4 of a BOTTLE of water?
Do you know of a kind of glue that can be used for this that will not absorb the color of the glitter. I’m doing something specially themed, , a sort of themed snow-globe with red glitter, but I need the liquid to be clear (not pink or rosey) when all the glue has settled. Do you know of another glue (besides the Alenes) or other clear viscous thickener that will not absorb the color of the glitter?
Great idea and thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi, I tried making this with the Karo syrup that someone mentioned – no matter the ratio of syrup/water my ultra fine glitter just floated.. I tried shaking it vigorously in the bottle, whisking it in a bowl, filling the bottle completely.. nothing has helped. Any suggestions???
I have no children or grandchildren. I do however make a lot of “treat bags’ for Halloween (up to 50 +/-). Would this be something I could make and hand out and what about making a smaller version? How long, {days, weeks, months etc,} do they last? If you do think it a good idea to hand out, what could I use to make it safe for all ages? Is there any kind of smaller bottle or plastic tube that could be used? What about a small toy inside to see as it settles?
BTW: By all ages I mean making sure the parents know it’s in there and what it is. I NEVER hand out anything, except for candy, without telling the parents it’s in there. I usually gather toys & party favors all year so I don’t have to buy them all at once. Most of the families around here knows to come to my home because as a young girl once told me, “you guys always hand out the neatest stuff”. I also don’t put an age limit on it.
Was just wondering if anyone had a problem with part of the glitter floating to the top as well as settling on the bottom?
We are out of the time-out phase (was almost wishing we weren’t when I saw these), but then a friend suggested we use it for timing tooth-brushing! Ours settles in 1.5 minutes which is just right for brushing teeth well!
Thank you so much for this post! I work in a primary school and have made one for our sensory room and one as a time out timer. I have also used one in my daughter’s bedroom… If she wakes in the night she has to use the “timer” before she can call mommy. (She usually doesn’t make it that long). Wonderful idea.
Can you provide more information on the quantities that you used to create a 5 minute bottle? It’s not in my personality to create, test, wait, adjust, repeat multiple times. I would love to get as close as possible within the first couple of tries! Any suggestions on the quantities to start would be very helpful!!
I plan to get a group of moms together to create these bottles, hopefully it will be fun!
Thank you.
Reblogged this on IT2's and commented:
Great idea!,,,, We found ourselves relaxing just reading the post.
Reblogged this on A Wall is a Door..
I think this will be great for my grandson. He is 3 and timeout is used but I think it would be great for him to have a timer of his own. His mom made some like this at her house. I think she still uses them
Reblogged this on Angies Grapevine and commented:
Great idea….I think I need one of these at work, 😀 😀 😀
Hi there. I am curious what the purpose of glitter glue? Isn’t it the same thing as clear glue+ glitter? I couldn’t find glitter glue so I just wanted to know if glitter and clear glue alone would do the trick. Thank you!
Mine has a ton foam at the top, and half the glitter is stuck in it. Any suggestions?
Hi I would love to make this for my two years old but i cant not find the swirl glotter where did you purchase that? I tried Wal Mart, Jo ann Hobby lobby Michaels and Target and no luck. Please HElp!
I got mine at hobby lobby
I have been looking for this project for FOREVER and finally found it here! My science teacher made a few and believe it or not it helps us work quicker and stay focused.
Reblogged this on The Thoughts of Loki.
Hi!! I love this idea. Our son has some pretty good meltdowns so we thought we’d make one to see if it would calm him. We made one tonight but all the glitter settles to the top. What are we doing wrong? Also, we want the water to clear faster so do you just remove some of the water and then add more? Thanks for the help and the great idea!!!
I made 3 of these – 2 for for my friend’s boys, and one for her. They love them! Awhile ago I had pinned a recipe for a non-toxic replacement for goo-gone, which I tried for the first time on these bottles and it worked wonderfully for the label on the smart water bottles. http://www.rosybluhandmade.com/2012/03/05/diy-gunk-remover-easy-recipe-to-remove-sticky-adhesive-residue/
Just thought I’d share the good find with all.
I used regular Elmer glue so mine looks milky which is okay but my glitter won’t sink it is all floating on the top. Do you have any ideas for making it work?
How do you get all the bubbles to evaporate at the top?
I made a few of these with my cousins and one was a boy. He loved it. We did a bunch of different colors. We also used glow glitter glue instead of regular glitter glue which was a big hit. Mixing it in a separate bowl and then using a funnel worked well. Letting it sit for a few minutes will keep it from foaming before putting it in the bottle. You can personalize these as much as you want. I love mine.
Made 2 of these this evening. They look beautiful but they settled in about 30 seconds. I kept adding more and more of the clear glue. There is a whole bottle of glitter glue plus about 1/3 bottle of clear tacky glue in each of these (the bottles hold 33.8 fl oz), and they still settle in about 1 1/2 minutes. I was hoping to have it between 5 and 10. Very frustrated. Any thoughts on what the problem could be?
This is a great idea. I do have a suggestion that will improve the glitter floating and completely do away with the need for heating the water. I have tried to read through the comments to see if this has been covered and didn’t see it.
If you get a bottle hair gel from the dollar store (don’t worry about color or fragrance) and mix it 50/50 with tap water you have a perfect consistency. You can add glitter, Mylar confetti bits, or other floaty things. Glue by its very nature is supposed to solidify, where hair feel is meant to dissolve and wash away so it stays liquid.
Also to make a positive seal, fill your bottle as close to full as you can, even over the rim. Then dry the threads with a cotton swab and put a good bead to hot glue around, screwing the lid on tight.
I’ve been making these for over 20 years, as an assistive technology practitioner and have so e from the early days that still mixes perfectly and stays suspended for at least 15 minutes.
HELP…ANYONE…I just made one of these timeout bottles (using very hot water) and followed the directions but it didn’t turn out right! The glitter splits, either rising to the top or sinking to the bottom with perpetual floaters in between. Is there anything I can do to fix it? What did I do wrong?? Thanks!
Check your glitter. You want “super fine” in which all the pieces are the same size (and tiny). I’m guessing that your glitter is actually various sized particles that each have a different buoyancy (hence, sink, float, hang in the middle).
I work at a dentist office and thought this would be great for anxious children. Made one with blue glitter mixed with a little pink. Looks awesome! I used Karo syrup and no extra glitter. Had to add water until the glitter fell in 5 minutes. I put the glitter glue in the bottle first then added the hot water. One thing I learned if you do it that way is the bottle must be dry or the glitter sticks and leaves streaks on the inside. I had a little foam but don’t worry about it, it goes away. Thanks for sharing!
I just came across these bottles on Pinterest. Wow! I have a 5 year old who is having trouble controlling his temper and anger. Maybe this would help? Can’t wait to try!
Hello,
I made one for my daughter and it originally worked great. But, about an hour after I made it (when the water was cooling down) the glitter was sticking to the sides of the bottle and I couldn’t get it off. Any suggestions?
I recently saw this amazing idea on the organized housewife website, and I love it!! I can not wait to make these this weekend. Thank you so much for sharing.
What size smart water? 33.8 FL Oz or 23.7?
The larger one
I made these a while back for my kids. Loved the idea! http://thetalbertreport.blogspot.com/2015/01/relax-bottletime-out-timer.html
Do you use all 3 products or just the glitter and clear glue?
I like to use the time-out glitter bottle activity in a lesson I am creating – in the lesson plan I like to use the pictures from your blog post. I seek your permission to use them.
Dr. Renuka Rajasekaran,
That is fine. Just as long as you give my blog propped credit and link back.
Whereas I am waiting on your response, I wanted to let you know that although I can make the bottles on my own and add the pictures in the lesson plan, I really wanted to present the pictures you have posted in your blog and provide the link. By doing this, like to draw the attention of the audience to my lesson to your blog which is so resourceful and they could benefit from it.
Love the colours you used!
Wow those are really cute, fun and a great idea! That stuff was always fascinating to me when i was a child. And good decision with the water bottles because when i first read the story with the mason jars, my first thought was why would any parent had an angry or upset child a glass jar. I could already see that being thrown!!! Yikes 🙂
Hi! My husband forwarded me your post and we are currently in the process of making the relax bottle for our 2.5 year old daughter. I am excited about using the bottle with her, thank you so much for sharing!!
I also have a really random thought, in one of your pictures above I noticed part of your sink is showing. We are in the market for buying a new kitchen sink, and have looked at the type you have – are you happy with this material for a sink? I can’t make up my mind if I want composite granite, porcelain black or stainless steel… so far I only have experience with stainless 😉
Anyways, again I really appreciate your post about the bottles. I hope they will help my daughter to relax and calm down 🙂
Have a blessed day!!
Yes! We love our sink 🙂 it cleans easily and is a wonderful material!
Thanks for this. I’m going to try it with my students. Instead of buying Goo Be Gone, peanut butter or sunflower seed butter gets the label off 🙂
Made 3 bottles today….I used a full bottle of glitter glue and added some course and fine sparkles to each of the large Smart Water bottles….most of my sparkles are floating to the top rather than sink…..do I need more glue?
Such a great idea!
This is a great idea, the kids must find it quite relaxing just looking at those pretty colours!
These are great! Thanks for posting. I am going to make a green one for my 2 year old son. I plan on incorporating it with potty training. Can you use clear elmers glue in bottle?? That’s what I have handy.
Yep!
I tried to do this, but when the glitters settled some stayed on top of the water and others on the bottom. I noticed as i shook it, the glitters were both going to both the top and the bottom. Does anyone know how to fix it so that the glitters will only settle at the bottom?
Hi Johanna,
I absolutely love these jars (and I’m 43!!)(shhh!!) 😉 I’ve tried 3 different times to make one of these – with poor results on each – to the point I just had to throw them out (which wasn’t only a waste of time, but also glitter, confetti, etc) … but I just had to try again … so this time I tried (with 3 different glasses this time instead of making them in the jar I wanted to use) to put really warm water & hand sanitizer together (because it was clear & very thick – it was a random experiment … that actually worked!!).
So, I just started with about a 1/4 of a mug full of water, then put a huge squeeze of sanitizer (maybe 1/4 cup) in the mug, along with a small scoop of very fine glitter (probably just the tip of a teaspoon, at a time, until i liked what i saw) along with a couple teaspoons of really pretty confetti – very girlie!! I got it to where i liked it – then i needed to fill up the mug more, so i just kept adding water & sanitizer a little more & a bit more, stirring each time until I had plenty to fill my jar. Once I was happy, I super glued my lid on, then wrapped the top in a pretty pink piece of material tied around the edges with eyelash yarn (I doubled the yarn so I could tie it tight without it breaking) tied around the rim. I am very happy with my results!! So, know that you can mix water & clear gel hand sanitizer together to make one of these super cool glittery jars as well! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this with us – it gave me the confidence to give it a try – and to try again until I was really happy with the results!!
Much appreciated!!!
PS – I have pics I can share – plz email me if interested.
Years ago I saw this post and felt it was perfect for my youngest granddaughter who really hated time out. But she loved this bottle! Kept shaking it to watch some more. So it never did get to serve as a time. My daughter just recently found it in a closet clean out and it was still intact three years later. I loved making it as much as she loved using it!
We’ve made about 8 of these in the last week for my two 3 year olds, thanks to your instructions. Using ~17 oz bottles (perfect hand held size for them), 1/3 bottle of glitter glue for each stretches our finances, no clear glue needed, and we still add a bunch of glitter (1 to 1 tablespoons) , one bottle we added a couple drops of food coloring to and it gives a boost to the color intensity. The bottles are also great car ride distractions for long trips.
We tried yellow, light blue, red, and orange sparkle glues, with aquamarine or gold ultrafine glitter. at first the glitter clumps up on top really gross looking but it blends in by the next day. The yellow glitter glue plus aquamarine glitter is a fascinating blend, settled down it looks lemony but it swirls up into a dynamic teal tornado. Thanks for the great pictures and easy to follow instructions!
I have terrible anxiety, so when I made this in a girl group, I use it anytime I have a row with someone, or I just need to calm down. Great for stress releavers