I first saw agate night lights on Lulu & Georgia, and again these ones on Uncommon Goods. I fell in love and just knew I needed one for the nursery. Then I saw the price. Don’t get me wrong, I understand a lot of work can go into production and all, but when you can buy an agate slice and night light for about $5 each, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own. The result? Perfection. I’m SO happy with my agate slice night light, and kind of want to make a whole whack load in a bunch of colours!
I picked up my agate at my local (down the road, woohoo!) rock and gem shop, but they only had creamy/purple colours. That was fine by me, but I couldn’t write this without letting you know that agate slices come in ALL sorts of bright colours! If baby is good to me and let’s me craft during nap time, I think I’ll order some bright agate slices to make several more of these beauties.
They’re surprisingly easy to make, and I’m sure the process can only be improved upon. It took me a couple tries to get the gold right. Originally I used a gold leaf marker, but it was a super dull gold that barely showed. So I decided to stick to the source and went for actual gold leaf. It looks close enough to melted gold like the original night lights!
Most of the DIY time is in the gold leaf application, and then letting it sit overnight, with active DIYing time is about 45 minutes. So pop on a gilmore girls episode (my current Netflix guilty pleasure) and let’s get started!
Materials
- Agate slice
- Night light with a flat surface
- Gold leaf
- Tacky glue
- Krazy glue
- Paint brush
- Clamps (not pictured)
Steps
Step 1: Apply a small amount of glue along the edge of your agate slice, then brush it evenly to create a thin layer
Step 2: Place a piece of gold foil on the glue and gently press it down with the brush or the hard end of the brush. You may also have to tap it lightly with your fingers, then rub the edges to get off any extra flakes. Repeat steps 1 and 2 all the way around the agate slice.
Step 3: This step is optional, but you can carefully apply another thin layer of glue on top of the gold leaf to create a seal. You may have to do touch ups with more gold leaf as it has a tendency to bunch up and come off with too much handling.
Step 4: Apply krazy clue on your night light. My nightlight was fairly flat, but it had higher ridges, so this is where I placed the glue as that’s what the agate slice would first come into contact with.
Step 5: Place your agate slice into position and press firmly.
Step 6: Attach clamps to hold your agate slice and night light into place. Leave it to fully adhere for at least for 2-3 hours, preferably overnight.
Step 7: Plug into your wall and enjoy!
I love walking into the nursery and seeing a tiny little light beaming from the wall. Ours is an LED night light with a sensor (seen on the bottom), so it automatically turns on when it gets dark. It’s just so pretty!
Absolutely beautiful Tan!
So glad you like!
Gorgeous! I love agate!
Isn’t it the best!?
Oh my goodness – beautiful! I am going to make one (or more) for my house!!!
I wanna see when you’re done!
I love agate and this is such a cool idea!
I love it, and am sad that it is actually hidden behind a side table so I never get to look at it 🙁
Love this, Tan!
Yay!
these are so cute and would make great Christmas/holiday gifts! Do you think you could link directly to where the night lights could be purchased? All the hyperlinks go to Price Grabber, which has over 8000 listings and no matter how I try to refine the search, I can’t find the lights that you used. Thanks, and keep up the good (creative) work! 🙂
I got mine from Home Depot. Something like this would work well! http://www.homedepot.com/p/Amerelle-LED-Insta-Light-2-Pack-71185/202260322
Hi, as a rock hound, I love this idea. I feel the need to tell you, though, that the natural agate YOU used is really the way to go. It’s beautiful. You mentioned that, “agate slices come in all sorts of colors,” but the pictures you show is of dyed agate. Agate does NOT come in those colors, naturally. Yes, agate does come in beautiful colors of different shades, BUT it is easy to tell the difference: The natural colors are much softer, and the brightly-colored ones are fake. Thanks for showing us how to make these lovely night lights!
Thanks for the info! I always love learning about rocks and gems
This is really beautiful and cool. I love it.
Thanks Ella! I’m bummed that the only place it can go in the nursery is partially behind the dresser so I can never look at it!
Where did you find the flat night light that you glued the agate onto? I love the idea of the gold around the edge!
I’m pretty sure I found it at a local hardware store, but something like this should do the trick! https://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/product/safety-1st-reg-auto-sensor-nightlight-2-pack/1041228982?skuId=41228982&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand__&adpos=1o1&creative=40092805770&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&product_id=41228982CA&mrkgadid=612889946&mrkgcl=610&rkg_id=h-38111e3cf6bc71b94991318e9cc7dfc7_t-1508040176&gclid=CjwKCAjw64bPBRApEiwAJhG-frYkmRlORSSQpLNv9h_731ElGLPn1SzZ35XjQ6v3qUSAV_yiTl6EfBoCQ5kQAvD_BwE