DIY Luminaries

In our house we would use any excuse for a dinner party with family. My eldest son adores planning a menu and setting a beautiful table. Lights or luminaries are always part of the setting. Here are three super easy ideas for beautiful light effects.

Younger kids would need a bit of extra help of an adult to cut boxes as a craft knife is needed. LED Lights are a wonderful, safe and inexpensive option to use instead of candles. We bought ours at Pep Home stores.

Glass Jar Luminaries

You will need:

• Empty glass jars
• Mulberry or tissue paper
• Plascon Paint Effects Varnish(or Modge Podge)
• Stickers, glitter, feathers or anything to create an interesting effect.
• LED Lights or candles (I prefer LED Lights as it’s a much safer option for kids)

Simply stick your vinyl sticker on your clean jar. Tear your mulberry or tissue paper in small, manageable bits. Apply a thick layer of Paint Effects to your jar and stick your paper onto the wet Paint Effects. You can work over your vinyl sticker. Once dry, add another coat of Paint Effects. For the glitter jar, sprinkle glitter all over the surface of your jar, let dry and add another coat of Paint Effects. Once your jar is completely dry, add your candle or LED Lights.

Chinese Lantern Light

We made these for our Chinese themed dinner party.

You will need:

• Empty box
• Paint
• Masking Tape
• Coloured tracing paper
• Marker pen
• LED Lights

Open your box and flatten it, cut ‘windows’ in all sides of the box. Paint your box in prefered colour. Trace or draw your design onto the coloured tracing paper using a marker. Cover your “windows”with the tracing paper, securing with masking tape. Refold your box and add your LED Light.

Paper Bag Lights

These look amazing in the garden. We made some for Halloween.

You will need:

• Paper bags
• Paint
• Stencil (optional)
• Sand
• LED Lights

Paint or stencil your design on both sides of the paper bag. Once your bag is dry, add about 1/4 sand to give some weight to your bag. Add your LED Light.

Lovely, but different types of DIY luminaries to make with the kids to make your next event’s decor super special!