Spiderchain Jewelry

Boutique Jump Ring Manufacturer

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Fairy Lights

October 29, 2014 By Spider 1 Comment

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.

Full Sun
Soaking up that light…
Twilight
Starting to look interesting…
Nighttime
Glow!

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:

post_glow_reflection

Can you tell I’m having fun with this?
*big grin*

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.

post_glow_size

Filed Under: Fun Projects

Comments

  1. Apprentice Tony says

    October 6, 2015 at 4:39 pm

    Great idea!

    Reply

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