How to Put a Triangle Mirror in a Kaleidoscope

An important part of creating a kaleidoscope is placing the mirror properly inside the tube. The mirror is what creates the illusions and beautiful colors and designs the kaleidoscope is famous for. Follow these steps to put the triangle mirror into a kaleidoscope.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mailing tube
• 2 pieces of cut mirrored glass
• Glue gun
• Hot glue
• Newspaper

1. Cut three pieces of mirror identical in size to create your triangle mirror. The size of each piece should be 1 by 3 inches or 1 by 4 inches.

2. Glue the three pieces of mirror together, shiny side out, with hot glue to make a long triangle. Keep hot glue away from the shiny part of the mirror.

3. Wrap the mirror with a piece of newspaper. Put enough newspaper on the mirror so it fits snug into the mailing tube.

4. Cut a mailing tube about 2 inches longer than the triangle mirror. Place it up on one end on a table.

5. Put the wrapped mirror in the tube gently until it hits the bottom on the table. Make sure the mirror is snug in the tube. If not, remove it and wrap some more newspaper around the mirror.

6. Ball up small pieces of newspaper and fill in the gaps at the top by sticking them around the mirror. Make sure the mirror is directly in the middle of the tube and is tight enough in the tube so it does not move.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also place small pieces of foam around the mirror instead of newspaper. However, newspaper is the most inexpensive way to complete this step in the project.