How to Make a Magic Wand With Ribbon & a Dowel Rod

Make your child a magic wand to accompany her fairy costume.

Whether for Halloween or for dress-up, children can transform themselves into witches or wizards with the prop of a homemade magic wand. You can make magic wands using any type of stick-like object, including dowel rods. Dowel rods are inexpensive cylindrical pieces of wood available at hardware and craft stores. Learn how to fashion a dowel rod into a magic wand for your child and embellish it with dangling ribbons and other craft materials.

Things You'll Need

• 12- to 14-inch-long 1/4-inch diameter dowel rod
• Paint brush
• Different colors of acrylic paint
• Clear plastic ornament
• Paper cups
• Eye dropper
• Glitter
• Clear packing tape
• Two different colors of ribbon
• Scissors
• Colored plastic ornament
• Glue

Instructions

1. Paint a 1/4-inch diameter dowel rod that is 12 to 14 inches long using a paint brush and acrylic paint.

2. Let the rod dry before applying a second coat of paint.

3. Remove the top from a clear plastic ornament.

4. Pour two or three different colors of acrylic paint into individual paper cups.

5. Squirt, one at a time, different colors of acrylic paint from the paper cups inside the ornament using an eye dropper. Twist and turn the ornament in your hands to make the paint cover the inside walls of the ornament. You will be able to see the mix of colors through the clear ornament.

6. Pour about a teaspoon of glitter into the top of the ornament and shake the ornament to spread the glitter over the acrylic paints.

7. Let the ornament dry for 24 hours.

8. Turn the ornament upside down and place the opening of the ornament over the top of the dowel rod. Secure the ornament to the rod using a piece of clear packing tape.

9. Cut a ribbon into a 2-foot-long strip using scissors. Cut another color of ribbon into a 2-foot-long strip.

10. Place the two ribbons together and tie the center of the ribbons around the clear packing tape beneath the ornament. The ribbons should hang down the length of the wand.

Tips & Warnings

• Rather than paint the ornament, choose a colored plastic ornament to tape to the top of your magic wand. Wrap the cut ribbons in a spiral down the length of the dowel rod and secure them with glue.

References

• "Halloween"; Joanne O'Sullivan; 2003
• "FamilyFun Homemade Holidays"; Deanna F. Cook, et al.; 2009