Fairy Lights

I came across some glow-in-the-dark “rocks” while researching a concrete walkway project for my garden. It’s a neat concept: you set these chunks of (plastic) rocks into your concrete and it absorbs light all day so you have a gently glowing path at night. I eventually decided against using it for my path project, but I loved the idea of the glow stones. And since chainmail goes with everything…

Fast forward a few months, and I have my first of (hopefully) many glowing chainmail fairy lights.

That nighttime picture really didn’t do it justice (the streetlight made more of a difference to my camera than I thought it would), so here’s an indoor shot:

If you want to make one for yourself, you can get the glow stones from Ambient Glow Technology. I got the largest size (3/4″) of glow stone in all three colors. In retrospect, I wish I’d spent the extra $$ to get the tumbled version, but I’m still pretty happy with it. Next up, I want to get some of their tiny rocks to make a glow-in-the-dark pendant.  *glee*

For the container, any weave you want to use can work – you just need to be able to expand/contract it enough to create the form. A more open weave will let more light through. I think I’m going to try Japanese 6-in-1 for my next fairy light, using 5-in-1 “soccer ball” connections to shape it.

I promise that I’ll share ring size details of any glowing jewelry that I make, but if you want to make a garden light I recommend that you use stainless steel rings. And I don’t sell stainless steel. Happily, the awesome folks over at Blue Buddha Boutique do sell stainless steel. To make something similar to my light, use their size T16 for the European 4-in-1 “pouch” and their size CC16 for the Full Persian “stem.” If you don’t already know how to tailor European 4-in-1 to fit curved shapes, I recommend a copy of Dylon Whyte’s first book, The Art of Chainmail. And if you don’t already know how to make Full Persian (or European 4-in-1) then I recommend a copy of my first DVD.

February 2023 Update: Blue Buddha Boutique stopped selling rings a few years ago. But if you do find a chain maille supplier who carries saw cut stainless steel rings they’ll probably be familiar with B3’s size names and should be able to provide something similar.