19. Creepy Specimen Jars
Channel your inner mad scientist by filling your kitchen counter or bookshelf with a collection of glowing, creepy specimen jars. This DIY project uses water, food coloring, and cheap plastic toys to recreate the look of a biological laboratory filled with preserved, mutated creatures. By adding a drop of highlighter ink and illuminating the jars with a blacklight, you can make the liquid inside glow with an eerie, radioactive luminescence that looks incredibly high-tech and fascinatingly gross.
Find several clear, smooth-sided glass jars with metal lids. Fill them with water and add a few drops of green, yellow, or blue food coloring to create a murky, preservative-fluid look. For a glowing effect under UV light, pull the felt ink core out of a yellow highlighter marker and squeeze a few drops of the ink into the water. Submerge creepy plastic items inside the jars, such as faux brains, plastic snakes, severed fingers, oversized bugs, or doll heads. To keep the specimens suspended rather than sinking to the bottom, tie them to a piece of clear thread secured to the inside of the jar lid. Screw the lids on tight, wrap the rims in rustic twine, and place a small blacklight strip behind the display to make your specimens glow with a brilliant, radioactive energy.