‘Tis the season for DIY holiday decor! I had a bit of a rough day a few days ago (can anyone relate?) so my sweet Mr. Handsome encouraged me to treat myself. I think he had a latte in mind, but I opted to head to the craft store to buy supplies to make DIY Christmas lanterns. The process was simple, but I am so pleased with the results that I just have to share the tutorial with you.
I followed The Budget Decorator’s DIY Mason Jar Holiday Luminaria tutorial, but I made several tweaks that made the process even simpler.
For jars, I used three leftover Ball canning jars (pint size, from Walmart) that only had ‘Ball’ written in small letters on the bottom back of the jar, rather than in large letters with measuring marks. I purchased the rest of the supplies at Hobby Lobby. These are the spray paints I used:
After placing a letter sticker on each jar, I did 3 coats of frosted glass spray paint, waiting 15 minutes between coats. (It is really important to follow the instructions on the spray paint can. If you hold it too close to the jars, the paint won’t be smooth.) The following morning, I did 3 coats of clear sealer spray paint, also waiting 15 minutes between coats.
I used the glitter shimmer spray paint on the rims. I opted to forgo the lids, but of course that’s just personal preference. (I like the simple look without ribbon, but you can feel free to add ribbon.) If you do use the lids, I recommend purchasing tealights that have built-in timers, so you don’t have to unscrew the lids to turn them on and off. The downside of tea lights with timers is that it can be difficult to find ones with a decent battery life.
I opted for flameless LED tealights without timers. At the recommendation of one of my Facebook followers, I tied fishing line (which Mr. Handsome has plenty of) around the plastic “flame.” I secured the other end under the rims as I screwed them on. To turn the lanterns on and off, I simply reach in and grab the fishing line to pull the tealights out.
One more tip. Blasting the stickers with a hairdryer for 20-30 seconds before attempting to peel them off is a must. If you pull them off and still see black flecks on the jar, you probably didn’t get both layers of the sticker. (That happened to one of my jars.) Simply blast it with a hairdryer for another 20-30 seconds, and gently use your fingernail to pick at the flecks. You should be able to pull off a full clear layer, and the black flecks should be gone.
If your stickers leave stickiness behind, allow the jars to set for a few days, and gently use a small amount of Goo Gone on a paper towel to wipe it away.
Feel free to choose another holiday word, such as Noel, Rejoice, Hope, Advent, Jolly, or Holly. If you’re feeling really crafty (and have a lot of Mason jars lying around), try Merry Christmas or Visions of Sugar Plumbs…Okay, that might be a bit excessive.
If you make these lanterns and want to take a minute to email me your photos, I would love to see them!
