DIY: Luminaries

Halloween is over and that makes me sad. I love Halloween for many reasons, costumes, candy, cooler weather (some of the time), jack-o-laterns, parties, scary movies on t.v., and the decorations, just to name a few of them. Not many people know my love for Halloween because unfortunately we have very few Halloween decorations. Every year we carve a pumpkin but that's really it as far as our decorating goes. This year I decided to rectify this situation. A DIY project that could be used for indoor or outdoor decor would be perfect and after some research I decided to make luminaries! You know the paper bags with designs cut out and candles inside illuminating them. I posted a picture of a lit luminaria I made in my Halloween post.

Here is what you will need: 

• Paper bags- I found that gift bags with no handles work best. I got the ones pictured below at Michaels for about $3. 
• A design to cut out of your bags- I picked out a skull design for mine. Just remember the more intricate the design the  more difficult it will be to cut out, also it will take longer to do.
• Scissors, x-acto knife, thumb tack-the thumb tack is for really small holes.
• Tape-to secure your design to the front of the bag.
• Tea candles- I used the fake plastic ones, they don't look too bad in the bag and they are A LOT safer.
• Sand- or something to weigh the bag down.

    

Instructions:

1. With small pieces of tape, tape the design to the front of the bag (the front is the side without the seam). If you cut your design out on the side with the seam, it will show up as a dark line when lit. 

2. Using the x-acto knife, scissors, and thumb tack cut your design out. Be careful not to puncture the other side of the bag, I put a folded up newspaper inside the bag to prevent this. 

3. When you have finished cutting out your design, carefully remove the tape and design from the front of the bag. 

4. Next place about 2-3 inches of sand in the bottom of the bag. If you are not using real candles then you can use something else to weigh bag down. I used two lemons in mine. 

5. Lite the candle (or turn it on if you're using the fake ones). Enjoy!

Important: if using real candles, NEVER leave your luminaria unattended! Paper bags are extremely flammable, so again be careful when using real candles!

Luminaria without lit candle.

I loved the way the luminaries turned out and lucky for me the skull design I picked works for Halloween and Dia de los Muertos!