My 7 year old son loves ocean life and wants to be a marine biologist when he grows up. He decided he wanted a Homemade Glowing Jellyfish Costume this year, but he wanted it to glow as jellyfish glow under water. Well, I thought about what we could do, and I decided to make him a black light responsive costume that would envelope him and seem to float through the neighborhood.
We couldn’t be happier with the results, and he looks so cool. He’s a great kid with a thirst for knowledge and love of art. I took his idea and together we made what we hope to be a kid friendly, traffic stopping costume. We hope you enjoy it!
what type of material did you use for the umbrella?
I used a clear plastic dome umbrella and painted the underside with liquid laundry detergent as most are black light responsive. I then put saran wrap on it on the inside of the umbrella to keep the detergent on the umbrella and not my son. Then I added a portable black light to the inside pole of the umbrella and wa-lah… He was a smashing success, and I am so happy with the results.
It looks great!! I would like make something like that. But what is Saran wrap? And will it look so great in day light?
saran wrap is just plastic wrap that you use when you cover leftovers before you put it in the fridge. :) I don’t think in this case that the “press ‘n’ seal” kind would work, nor would wax paper. You would have to use plastic wrap made by glad, I think it’s called “cling wrap” on the box.
My question is: did you have to use masking tape or anything to get the saran wrap to stay put, or did it do well without any tape all night long? Also, I can’t find any portable blacklights bigger than a mini-flashlight- where did you find yours?
What material did you use to make the tentacles?
Love this! What material did you use to make the tentacles? Thanks!
What material did you use for the tentacles??? How did you attach them? Did you dip them in liquid laundry soap also??
My child really wants to be sea life and this looked perfect but my one question was- How will it look at daytime? My child has a Halloween Carnival at her school so please please please respond!
For anyone looking for a portable blacklight… try a pet store. Apparently they are good at locating pet stains… who knew?? I found a 6″ black light at Petco, and a 12″ one at Petsmart. I wish someone had told me where to look before I spent hours scouring Halloween and hardware stores!! We’re putting the costume “together” tonight, but I think either light will work. It does not show up in bright light though…
Hey, this is super last minute (being October 30th and all) but would you happen to know if there is anything other than laundry detergent that would respond to blacklights? Do you think a regular Halloween store would have glow in the dark paints that would work for this? Thanks bunches for this magnificent idea and clear instructions! :D
How do you keep the jellyfish up without having to hold it?
Will the detergent wash off after so i can still use the umbrella???
what material did you use for the tenticals?
Sorry for not replying to anyone else, I didn’t know until today’s comment.
The tentacles are strips of fleece that are bright colors and respond to black lights. (oranges, yellows, and whites).
It is held up because I put ours in a back pack that night so he could be hands free.
It looks good in the daylight too, but it doesn’t glow nearly as bright.
Any plastic wrap should work as the fabric softener or detergent never really dries.
Portable black lights are at specialty stores like Spencer’s and most halloween stores. Also at pet stores.
I LOOOVE THIS! Did you have to use tape to tape down the Saran wrap? If so, what kind of tape did you use? Did you dip the fleece in the detergent? Thanks! I’m really looking forward to doing this. :)