Thanks for all the great responses on the call for suggestions of what to do with a beaded cashmere sweater! I just got another intriguing question from Emily of LEmily’s Yellow House, so readers, I need your help!
(And thanks to Regina at Creative Kismet who let me use this cool photo!)
Last time I was at the dollar store (the real dollar store, Dollar Tree, where everything is still really just a dollar), I came across Liquid Marbles in the craft aisle. I stood there just rocking the container back and forth and watching them turn from liquid to marbles and back to liquid for a good 10 minutes. But I couldn’t figure out, for the life of me, what one would do with them. I hope you answer because I’m hoping to have a few reasons to buy them. Thanks for any help you can provide!
Readers, what would you do with this dollar store item?
41 Comments
Eve
I think they are typically used as a decoration in vases… but I don’t know what to do with them creatively! Can’t wait to see what others come up with!
Theo
I had a little help and googled this, as I’ve not seen these before. If you go to http://stores.aqua-gems.com, they give ideas on how to layer different color marbles in glass containers. I really like the candy cane one for the holidays!
Brandi
Funny I did the same thing yesterday. I just sat there staring @ them, thinking how cool they were but what the heck could I do with them. Can’t wait for ideas.
Kate
I saw those too! The package says you can soak them if they dry out. I was thinking they would be cool for Halloween.
Tracy Lee
I work for Jo-Ann’s and I did a demo with Aquagems. I’m guessing they are the same as your liquid marbles. Here’s a link to the project I did for the demo.
http://tinyurl.com/liquidmarbles
Sarah Lou
No idea, but I want some!!!!!!!!!!
teri a.
hi! i’ve been using something very similar to these for years! what they’re really good for is plant cuttings. i have a pothos that i occasionally take cuttings off of and root them in the marbles. they also work for cut flowers in centerpieces, etc.
i really like them.
Dorene
I wonder if you soaked them in water colored with food coloring if they would change colors? That would open up a lot more possibilities.
Lulu
I am thinking about putting them in the mini-snow globes we are making from votive candle holders.
Lady in a Smalltown
I don’t have any ideas off the top of my head, but I wanted to comment on something else Emily said. “the real dollar store, Dollar Tree, where everything is still really just a dollar” In my small town in Vermont both our dollar stores are $1 only stores. When the second one opened I wondered if it would be a $1 store or a dollar store. None of my coworkers have any idea there is any other kind, but I went to college in Virginia and shopped at Dollar General and Family Dollar (both discount stores where items are round dollar amounts).
Mumzy
I wonder if one could use them with the liquid potpourri.
I have seen some used in with Beta fish instead of using rock.
Emily
Thanks for the responses, everyone!
I told my husband about these magical things and how, even though it was only a dollar, I couldn’t justify buying something at the time that would just sit in a jar. But, he loved the idea so much, he was ready to send me out in the snow (Yes! It’s snowing for the first time here in Connecticut! Yay!) to get them for him to play with.
Lady in Smalltown, I’ve been so spoiled because of Dollar Tree that spending $1.25 at the Family Dollar seems like too much, hahaha. You’re lucky to have two in your town!
heather
Thanks everyone for weighing in! This is fun! I hope I get more questions so I can post them for everyone. Feel free to send them in!
Justin
I just read on the Aquagems link posted by Theo that they make submersible LED lights that you can put in with them. I think that would make some cool ambient light as a substitute for candles or cool centerpiece. I have never heard of these but I’ll be on the look-out at our Dollar Tree for them. Thanks for sharing!
Dia
Those showed up around Halloween here. All I could think was: “What a great touchy-feely bunch of eye balls for a haunted house!”
Erin
I used them at Halloween in ‘specimen jars’ in a few ways. With a bit of green food coloring we had ‘frog eggs’, I mixed them with liquid detergent that glowed under a black light to add some dimension to the ‘potions’ and I used it to help suspend plastic flies and bugs in another jar after discovering that they all sank to the bottom. My favorite use so far is as a birthday gift– my 10 year old son enjoyed them so much he raved about them at school until everyone had to try them so we started adding them to birthday party gifts and everyone loves them!
Erin
I forgot to mention that they are OUTSIDE TOYS! They are not supposed to go down the drain and when you spill them on a kitchen floor they bounce and go everywhere- not to mention that they are kind of hard to see and to sweep up. They are really really fun when they are outside though!
stlyso86
i think it would be cool to use a hot glue gun to make an xmas tree out of them and building them like a pyramid. you could be traditional and use clear, white, or green, or go not traditional with it and use blue. just decorate with little candies or beads after your done.
stlyso86
…i just thought of something else…you could also make wreath ornaments in a similar way, but i would try to build it around something round so that it will be easier to give it the shape. or you could even glue them on a cd and hang with ribbon?
L8AGNinAZ
I just bought a bunch of these to use with candles in hurricane lamps as centerpieces for my daughters wedding…
another thought…how about putting thm in clear glass Christmas ornaments and seal with saran wrap or wax? They should really reflect the light!
Kristina
I saw this post and remembered I had seen these at the dollar tree the other day. I bought some and put them in a plastic water bottle with the label removed for my Preschool kids to play with. I added different food coloring colors to them so they would be pretty. I also sealed the tops of the bottles with hot glue so they wouldn’t leak. The kids have had a blast with them and I have seen several parents pick up the bottles and play too!
Andi
My daughter has brought these home several times from the science/natural history museum where she attended preschool and participates in an after-school science club. The kids love playing with them and it’s a great introduction to the wonders of different kinds of polymers. As for using them, you could use them as a fire-retardant filler in the base of a luminaria… I’m thinking that they’d give interesting results in place of the hard glass marbles for “marble painting”.
http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/artpainting.htm
YelliKelli
After reading this post when it came out, my DD and I went on another of our “wild Goose Chase” trips to search for something at the dollar store we saw here. We found them! We thought and thought…we bought some…and we are still just looking at them! Oh, well, it is kind of relaxing just to roll them around in the water! I want to use them in my kids classes if we can come up with a project!. LOL
Kay Drenth
My son is almost 4 and loves playing with his “water beads”. We soak them to get them plumped up and then put them in a large bin that you use for under bed storage so he can run his cars through them and such. When they dry out we just re-soak them.
In order to minimize the mess I sit the bin in a 5 foot blow up pool. That way and water or wayward beads stay in it. We do the same with our rice bin, bean bin and our new and exciting fake snow bin.
We got outs at a craft store up here called Craft Warehouse. They have them in a bunch of different colors. At the store they use them in the Vases with the Beta fish and the little frogs.
Jenelle
I bought these a month ago when our dollar tree had them, but I already knew what I was going to do with them: make a neck cooling scarf/bandana. This is a scarf with crystals sewn inside that you soak in water and wear around your neck in hot weather to keep cool. I’m not sure if these liquid beads are exactly the same as the polymer crystals in the scarves, but I figured it would be worth a try. Just haven’t gotten around to it yet!
Here’s a link for one of the tutorials http://sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/ss/coolscarf.htm
Greg
I also found them at Dollar Tree (great store). I’m a high school science teacher and plan to design some experiments around them. The first day I put them into a clear bowl of water where they were invisible. I would then reach in and come up with a handful of marbles. The class was amazed, and then further amazed when they disappeared again when they hit the water. The kids were fascinated, even the “I don’t care” ones. I plan to have a lot more fun with these babies.
Mai
Aha! My brother and I were out hopping around our local dollar tree store and I happen upon these. I haven’t really seen any like this before so before you know it, I was picking it up and playing with it! LOL. I just love how it disappeared once it goes into water. I spent a good couple of minutes just turning it upside down and right side up.
My brother thought it was really cool so he brought it for himself, and I’m here on this site as of now because I have no clue what to do it with! Though the vase idea sounds pretty nifty, I might try it. ;D Or, I can just leave it as it is, and have fun looking at it, ahahahaha.
Terry
Fun!
drop some into tall kettle and watch them bounce
divide into as many bowls as you have kids then:
– add food coloring of choice
– play
– add water to see if they float
– if they’re quite colored & wet, make marble painting by rolling on paper in a pan (something with sides to contain the bounciness)
– mix colors/marbles
– put some in veg. oil & see what happens
– then put some in sugar & flour to compare goopy messes
– drain the ones in water & layer colors in a glass jar
– get out the spray n wash and the kitchen bleach after the kids run off…
Jenner
LOL! I actually bought these things today… they were just too neat to leave on that shelf. I was googling to figure out just what they are made of and found this… glad I’m not the only person amazed by these things…
old marbles
They are pretty cool! I cut leaves off my philodendron plant to make starter plants. Put the marbles in a vase with water no dirt necessary and place your starter clipping in the vase. Works great for bathrooms or shelves.
sup???
hi so i got these marbles today and they are so cool! I have been playing with them all day and gave some away to my friend. She also loved them! I love how they turn transparent when they are underwater!!! I love them, if you don’t have them, then you have have have to go and get them!!! I recommend then for, decor, fun, and science projects. They are found at the Dollar Store.
Wretha
When you (and your kids) are done playing with them, you can use them in your planters and in your garden to hold water between watering. It works best to mix it with the soil before adding plants, but if you already have plants, then poke holes in the soil around the plants and add the already hydrated marbles, don’t add too many per hole or next time you water or it rains, they will puff up and out of the holes (ask me how I know). LOL
You might want to consider hydrating them and putting them in a food processor to chop them up a bit first, but you probably don’t have to if you don’t want to.
Wretha
Marcia
Where do I find them in the troy ohio area? i went into a dollor store & they acted like I was weird asking for liquid marbles..THEy had never heard of them.
caitlin
I am using them in my class for science and experimenting or just playing. One of the cool things is to put at least 2 layers high in a clear bottom bowl. Place the bowl on top of a secret message. At first with just the marbles the message under the bowl can not be read, but once water is added, it’s completely clear!
saRah
You could make the sweetest of love to them. Just an idea.
Amanda
I bought these to use in shallow heart-shaped bowls as centerpieces for my wedding. I was able to add red food coloring and they did change color. They accent the glass container so well.
angela
Mine site here on the computer stand in their container for me to marvel at when im bored LOL they will probably remain like that forever
Deborah
I was thinking you could use two vases (clear or colored translucent) one fat, one thin but similar heights. Insert one in the other, add the marbles, then add a tea-light candle in the center vase. I think it would be very pretty.
Kirsten
Liquid marbles?! I’ve never heard of/seen them…I’m totally intrigued.
Amy
I am new here to this site.. and now.. I am addicted.. I have to check it out every day to see what fun things are added. I ran across this information about the marbles and then found this:
http://craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com/2010/10/aqua-gem-halloween-fun.html
What a fun idea for any holiday! Little plastic easter eggs.. red hearts?
So much stuff to create.. so little time to do it all in!
Jenn
As a previous comment, I also use these to make a cooling scarf. Make a fabric tube, insert dry beads, close off tube, add fabric or ribbon to both ends, soak in cold water until beads have fully expanded, tie around your neck and go play in the garden.