Need a substance that is transparent and firm enough to hold objects....?

Question

I Need a substance that is transparent (Completely clear) and firm enough to hold objects.... I am trying to find a cheaper alternative to Candle gel, which serves the prupose in which I need it for. I do not wish to burn the substance, I need it to fill a pumpkin. I need the substance to be able to support objects as I place them throughout the pumpkin (need to substance to be firm enough). I am carving a viewing hole in the pumpkin and putting fish throughout so it appears the pumpkin is a fish tank. If anyone has any ideas about a substance I can use as opposed to Candle Gel, please let me know. Also, if you have any ideas on how I can light this pumpkin. Also note that I need this pumpkin to last a week with people viewing it, so whatever I put in can't be harmful and must last.

Answer 1

you could try lining the pumpkin with clear plastic bag and use clear jello gelatin make it extra firm by using less water. you can soak your pumpkin in water(just make sure not to get water in the gel,soak it in the sink overnight, just enough water to cover the sides) to help keep it from drying out and you can dye the gel blue too!!!!
YAY love halloween!!!have fun!!!! you could set a small clear glass down in the middle of the gel and set a small candle in side it

Answer 2

I'd guess maybe a few packages of clear gelatin (from the grocery store) though I don't know if it's slightly yellowish when set. Or better, you could use a "floral setting resin" (also called "artificial water") which is actually a two-part epoxy resin but cures with a sort of soft surface (rather than a hard surface like regular epoxy or polyester resins).
Floral setting resin can be purchased in the floral dept. of a craft store, etc.... it's intended for use inside vases and other clear containers to hold silk flower stems in place and to look like water. Think it takes about a day to cure though.
...Don't know if plain gelatin (which is firmer than Jello) will stay firm if not refrigerated.

Either of those will have to be poured in place without leaking so you'd have to perhaps cut the viewing window later, or figure out how to make it water tight while the clear stuff was setting (then remove it later perhaps).

You could also just put a plastic or glass window inside the pumpkin interior or actually inside the flesh so that it simulates water, then hang your fish with very thin fishing line or invisible thread.

As for lighting, you could do various things but you'd want to keep the heat down as much as possible to keep the pumpkin hard. (It would be a good idea to refrigerate the pumpkin between viewing times too or at least insulate it a little to make it last and stay hard as long as possible.)

If you don't think the clear water-stuff will be transparent all the way to the center of the pumpkin, you could put a tall cylindrical vase inside the gel and put a candle or other lights in there. You could also put mini-lights in the top of the pumpkin, or somehow in the sides... lights from the bottom would look wierd though. There are also various LED lights that will burn for a long time, but the cheaper ones aren't white. Other lights could work if you had a way of turning them off between viewings... though minilights either alone or inside something else that hides what they are a bit could last that long.


Good luck,

Diane B.

Answer 3

Plexiglass? Acetate? Gelatin? Place a tall hurricane glass candle in the center, and then create the fish tank effect with bubble wrap and those glass bits they sell to go into your vases, I see them often in the dollar store. use those heaped around the candle glass to prevent any fire, then layer outward.
I am just going off the top of my head, i have no idea if they will work.

Answer 4

what about artaficial water or pour on resin. both are clear and hold objects. but they are permanent and can't be removed. as for the pumpkin u can use artaficial candles they last longer than regular candles.

Answer 5

3 techniques i will think of of: a million) fairly positioned a fish bowl interior the pumpkin. 2) positioned sparkling cellophane interior over the holes and carry the fish from the appropriate with string or from the backside or aspects with wires. 3) Use sparkling gelatin. inspite of the very shown fact that i do no longer understand how this holds it rather is shape at room temperature.