I wanted to do bubble photos for my self-portrait a day pool on Flickr, only problem though...no bubbles.
My first thought was to run to the nearest store and get a bottle of bubbles. But whoa! I had all the knowledge and tools to do it myself, and I bet you do too.
First I found an empty pill bottle. The type I picked doesn't leak when turned upside down either. I rinsed it out, dried off the outside and labeled it with masking tape and a permanent marker. Always relabel bottles for safety's sake.
Then I filled it 1/4 full with bargain store liquid dishwashing detergent. I filled the rest with tap water. Do not shake. Put the lid back on and carefully turn it upside down a few times or stir it gentle with your bubble wand. You don't want it to get all foamy.
Then I found some wire for the bubble wand. I've even used clothes hanger wire in the past, but this time I chose a thin copper wire. I made a medium loop on one end and a small loop on the other. Then I taped the middle to cover the sharp wire ends. Make sure your loop is small enough to fit into your bubble bottle. The bare wire worked okay when tested, but not great. Then I remembered commercial bubble wands have little spikes that stick into the loop to hold more solution. So I used crochet thread and wrapped the bubble loop and tied it off with knots. This made it work perfectly.
So here are some of the photos I took with the new bubble wand.
I made this kit in under an hour, but I can see the potential of a hand-beaded bubble wand decorated in peyote stitch or wire wrapped in sterling silver with gems and beads on it.
A little tip: Bubbles like humidity and will last a lot longer on a foggy day or near a lake or pool.
Another tip: No matter the shape of the wand the bubble will always be round because that is the physics of surface tension.
