How to Decorate a Homemade Lava Lamp

Add color to the ingredients inside using the food coloring and frosting coloring. Add the liquid food coloring to the water and the oil-based icing coloring to the oil or parrafin. If adding color to the parrafin, melt it in the double boiler first. If coloring both ingredients, use a lighter color sparingly in the water to ensure that the parrafin will show clearly through it.

Put some glitter or confetti in the water, if you like. Use no more than 1 teaspoon of glitter for every 3 cups of liquid.

Locate an empty tin food can that is close in size to the bottle or jar you used for the lava lamp, but slightly larger. If the bottle is tapered, choose a can that's slightly larger than the bottle at its widest point. Make sure the can is as tall or taller than the base of the lamp where the light bulb is.

Cut a hole in the bottom of the tin cans using the router attachment on the rotary power tool. Make the hole large enough for the base of the can to sit inside it. Place this piece over the base of the lava lamp so that it covers the light bulb.

Wrap the glass bottle or jar in masking tape. Leave a 1- to 2-inch band at the top of the bottle (including the lid) unwrapped.

Paint the tin can with a coat of black glossy spray paint. Apply the same paint to the unmasked top of the bottle.

Let the paint dry.

Wrap the star stencils around the cans and the black area on the jar. Use the silver and/or gold enamel paint to paint through the stencils and create star shapes.

Apply translucent glitter paint to the painted stars, if desired.

Spray the black portions with polyurethane or varnish finishing spray. Let dry.

Remove the masking tape to reveal the unpainted portion of the glass jar.