Making Halloween Luminaries

I have the flickering Febrez luminaries, and I enjoy them a lot. But, I am not such a fan of the style choices I get. I decided to work up something myself that is a bit different!

Making luminaries for it instead. Safer than using a candle, and it turned out very cute! (Sorry, no pic in the dark. I tried, but I am too shaky without the flash)

I started with basic scrap booking card stock, 12 by 12. Cut it on a 45 degree angle, down the middle of the paper to get the longest strip possible. If you want an exact fit so you use no scented liner, trim a small bit off one side (leave a little flap, about 1/8 or less, for gluing at the end), fold over for a crease, measure 3 inches, crease again, another 3 inches, etc..until you have 4 sides.

Pick your display side (I forgot to do this and ended up using the duller side. tsk!), and then draw your simple picture on the opposite side. Do the same for all four sides. Be sure to leave about 1/4 inch at the bottom for the lip of luminary if it is to fit snug.

On the picture side, take a thumbtack or pin, and poke holes evenly. Do not place them too close together or they will tear. It's best to work from the center to the outside to decrease the chances of tearing. Once that is done on one side, turn it over, take a slightly larger pin (I just used a display pin my son had for baseball) and do a secondary poke on all the holes, working again from the center outwards. This pushes the paper toward the back which DOES make a difference (in the pic, I messed this up at the top of the pumpkin, and I can tell!), plus the larger holes lets more light out.

Repeat four times.

Last step, do a dry fit on the luminary, trim the excess off the far side, then use a glue stick to glue that tiny extra piece to the inside of the far side.

Tah-dah!!! If you want scent, add some essential oils to the paper (but beware, the oil, being oil, will stain the paper....and you don't want it to be too close to the bottom or it will get into the light. Use your own judgement!).

I am thinking of doing a monogram for hubby and I for our bedroom just a smidgen larger so I can use the liner inside of it (thinking 3 1/8 inch per side). Love making things personal!