DIY Lava Lamps For Your Dorm Room

How many of you have owned a lava lamp in your lifetime? I remember having one of those glitter ones when I was younger, and after leaving it in front of the window for too long it stopped working. Ha! I definitely learned that sunlight and lava lamps don’t work well together. Anyways, with all this talk about lava lamps, we’re obviously bringing them back today in a DIY way for your dorm room decor! It’s so easy to create a lava lamp-like reaction, and you probably already own everything you’ll need to do so. If you’re gonna use a lamp, you might as well have a really fun, colorful lamp, right?! Let’s get makin’!

Glass bottle (here)

Vegetable oil

Liquid food coloring

Water

Alka seltzer tablets

Waterproof tea lights (here)

1. Put a small amount of water in a bowl and color it with liquid food coloring. Set aside.

2. Fill your glass bottle 3/4 of the way with vegetable shortening. Pour the colored water into the bottle, leaving a little bit of room empty at the top. Allow the water to settle at the bottom of the glass.

3. Drop your tea light into the bottom of the glass.

4. Break up an alka seltzer tablet into small pieces and place them one at a time into the bottle. Close the lid and watch the magic happen!

(Note: this reaction does only last a few minutes, but you can keep putting more alka seltzer in time and time again to continue the reaction)

How fun would these be to make with your roommates? I know I wish I would’ve had these for my dorm room! And if you’re looking for another back-to-school project, we’ve got a DIY for some sweet lunchboxes right over here!