Originally posted last summer, this is one of our favorite quick summer projects. We made these as birthday party favors when Sage turned five and find ourselves turning to this project each year. Enjoy, and happy Summer Solstice weekend to all!
Lupine
and I spent part of the day playing in the backyard, chasing enormous
bubbles through the grass. I wanted to share this playful summer idea
with you with a simple bubble wand tutorial. Here goes!
Materials
Pliers/Wire snips
1 dowel or small tree branch, approximately 24" long
3 feet of wire (ours was copper wire recycled from a remodeling job)
1 C unnatural dish soap
4 C water
bucket
The (Magic) Wands
Special
touches like glitter, paint, and ribbon streamers are a nice touch.
These instructions are for your bare-bones bubble wand, but don't let
that limit your creative spark!
Spiral one end of the wire around stick 4-5 times to secure.
Shape
remaining wire into a shape that creates one or more closed loops. (You
needn't be fussy about how closed the loops are. If the wires overlap
and touch it is close enough.) We made stars and dragonflies. Your
design should be fairly two-dimensional for ease of use.
Optional step: If you have loads of wire left after completing your design, trim to approximately 5".
Tuck the second wire end safely away so no one gets poked (around the stick or turned on itself it left exposed).
The Bubble Juice
We have tried many recipes and this simple one is the best. (We skip the
glycerin and corn syrup found in other bubble formulas. We have found them to be unnecessary
and some leave sticky marks where the bubbles pop.)
Mix 1 C unnatural dish soap (we used Dawn) with 9 C water. (I wish I could tell you to make this with our delicious LuSa Organics soap,
but alas, those bubble aren't tough enough for backyard mayhem.)
Stir gently to dissolve.
Play!
Edited: If you do make wands, won't you post them to the Clean Flickr pool and then leave a comment here? I'd love to see your creations.
What a wonderful idea! I’ve seen these for sale at craft fairs & renaissance festivals and they’re always expensive, so I’m excited to try my hand at it. You are super crafty!
Kim,
They tend to be very fancy (and expensive), but so easy to do a more humble version on your own! I hope you enjoy.
Rachel
We made these bubble wands at playgroup. I had supplies so all them mamas could give it a try. Thanks for the idea! We had fun! Posted a few pics on your Flickr group.
Rachel,
They look great! Thanks for sharing. Glad you were inspired.
Rachel
So much fun. I wish you could mix in some of your bug spray 😉 That much make the outside play right now even more fun 😉
Thank you for sharing, Rachel. I have made willow wands for big bubbles, for a number of years. Great fun at parties! All ages can enjoy and delight in having a go. I had heard that it was possible to make the bubbles even bigger with a set of sticks and string, but hadn’t got around to trying it out. Thanks to your wonderful photos and descriptions we are making one now, ready for a party, this afternoon. Can’t wait. It’s good we can buy the ready mix, but will try your recipe, too. xo Helen