How to Make Galaxy Bottles
One of my favorite new party themes that we introduced to the shop this fall was our rocket ship birthday. My kids love dreaming about outer space – shooting off in a rocket ship, flying to see the moon and exploring the planets. I love the idea of bringing these things to life at their birthday party. How much fun.
The rocket ship theme was inspired by a friend’s child’s birthday and her dream of flying in outer space… on her invitation. I love making kids the focal point of our designs.
One activity that we made at her birthday celebration were these galaxy bottles. They are a crazy mix of art supplies all stuffed into a plastic water bottle and stirred up to make an incredible colorful swirl. They look just like a galaxy – hence their name.
This art activity is the perfect one for a rocket ship or outer space party. Although it can be a little messy (I recommend covering the table with a lots of tablecloths and perhaps newspaper for spilled paint/water), it gives guests a little something to take home and enjoy the wonders of outer space long after your celebration.
The following instructions make one galaxy bottle. I would recommend multiplying the supplies by the number of guests that you have. For groups smaller than six, small bottles of paint in many colors work well. If you have a higher guest count, I recommend getting the large bottles of paint. You will need fewer of them, but it will be more economical in the long run. One or two containers of silver glitter should be fine since you don’t use that much per a bottle.
You Will Need:
1 plastic bottle (a standard sized water bottle works great – if you have to empty one out, be sure to use the water inside in this project)
2 cups of water
6 to 8 different colors of acrylic paint (for lots of variety – although, you can repeat colors if you wish to us fewer colors)
silver glitter
24 large cotton balls
straw, pipe cleaner or other long object to push in cotton balls
plastic spoons (one for each color)
clear plastic cups for mixing (one for each color)
funnel for pouring
1. Push 6 cotton balls into the bottom of the empty bottle using a paper straw, pipe cleaner or other object to help push them into place at the bottom of the bottle.
2. Shake silver glitter on top. (Add some small star confetti if desired)
3. Fill a mixing cup half way with water. Add 3 squirts of one color of paint.
Mix with a spoon.
Pour into the plastic water bottle using a funnel.
4. Add 6 more cotton balls. Sprinkle silver glitter on top. Fill a new mixing cup half way with water. Add 3 squirts of one color of paint. MIx with a spoon. Pour the paint mixture into the water bottle using a funnel.
5. Repeat again until the water bottle is filled to the top. (Usually it takes four to five layers.) You can use a different color each time or repeat colors. We made one that was all pink and purple and it turned out great.
6. Once you’ve filled up the water bottle, glue the cap on top. Gently, shake your bottle. If you shake too much the colors will get murky and won’t swirl together.
Galaxy bottles make a wonderful craft activity to make at your rocket ship birthday party. It was helpful to show the kids photos of real galaxies before making our bottles. They were impressed how similar their bottle’s swirls matched the galaxies.
Send the galaxy bottles home as a favor or you could pre-make a set for your guests to take home. It’s a fun way to make your space themed celebration out of this world!
Happy Celebrating,
Natalie
