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How to Make a Cheap Lava Lamp

There's nothing quite so groovy as a lava lamp. These psychedelic souvenirs of the 1970s have remained popular for 4 decades due to their trippy appeal. Instead of dropping money on an expensive model, it's easy to make one at home with a few items most people have laying around the house.

Things You'll Need

Clear glass jar with lid
Food coloring
Water
Vegetable oil
Glitter
Salt
Flashlight

Instructions

- 1
  
  Clean the glass jar
  
  Clean the glass jar and lid so that there is no debris left inside and all the labels have been removed (to loosen a paper label, soak the jar in hot water, and it should peel off easily). Fill the jar three quarters full with room temperature water.
- 2
  
  Add food coloring
  
  Put a few drops of food coloring in the water. Any color will do, such as red, blue or green, and keep adding coloring until the desired shade is created.
- 3
  
  Add glitter
  
  Toss in some glitter to give the lava lamp eye-catching sparkle. It can also be fun to use larger, shaped pieces of glitter, such as hearts or stars.
- 4
  
  Add vegetable oil
  
  Pour vegetable oil into the jar until it almost reaches the top, and put on the lid. Give the jar a good shake to mix things up, and then allow the mixture to sit and separate.
- 5
  
  Use a flashlight to make the lava lamp glow
  
  Pour salt into the jar until a bubbling lava lamp effect takes place, with globules of oil sinking down to the bottom of the jar, before rising back to the surface. Hold the flashlight behind the jar to make it glow, and add more salt as desired to make it bubble more.

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