Deck the Labs with Gels and Bottles

Do you decorate your lab for the winter holidays? If yes, we want to see what you’re doing. Starting today, and running until December 22 2021, we will be running our first “Deck the Lab” contest. The winner will receive a $100 Edvotek Gift Card*! We’re accepting entries on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, so be sure to like and follow us on all of the social networks to see what your fellow labbies are setting up in their spaces. Swing by www.edvotek.com/contest for more information on how to enter and win!

If you need a little inspiration on how to decorate your lab, here are a few ideas:

1. Chemis-tree decorations: We love using elements and chemical and physical symbols to spell holiday words. We used chemspeller.com to create the words merry, cheer, joy, and edvotek (which we have made available here). Download each word as a png and print on heavy paper or cardstock. Glue to a sheet of paper, laminate for durability, and then punch hole to attach ribbons and a string for hanging. The possibilities for what you can spell are endless!
2. Borax Icicles: This experiment uses a super saturated solution of the household chemical Borax (or sodium tetraborate decahydrate) to create beautiful, icy crystals on pipe cleaners. This would be a perfect exercise to reinforce the concepts of concentration and saturation of solutions!
3. Soft Circuit Christmas Ornaments: Conductive thread, LED lights, and plastic beads are used to create a tree that sparkles glows. Try making a menorah with candles that light up!
4. Petri Plate Garland: For the microbiology classroom, here are some colorful bugs that don’t need to be autoclaved when you’re done! This glowing garland will bring cheer to your lab (and a little extra light for those all-too-dark afternoon lab sessions!)
5. Snap-top tube snowflakes: If you have left over microcentrifuge tubes, try this fun little project! Link twelve 1.7 mL snap-top tubes together by their caps, alternating the direction that the tube faces each time. When all twelve are linked, connect the first and last tubes to make a snowflake.  Attach some twine as a hanger and a colorful ribbon and you’re done! Different sized tubes make different snowflakes so experiment with what you have!

We had so much fun doing the research on these projects that we had to try them ourselves! For visual directions on creating the petri plate ornaments, the snap tube snowflakes, and the periodic table garland, be sure to watch our YouTube video below!

*Contest is open internationally, but a non US-based winner would be responsible for any charges (including shipping) over the $100 gifted amount.