Thursday, October 13, 2011

ghost lanterns.


As the rainy fall days surround us, we think of light. More light! It has been awhile since we have made any canning jar tissue paper lanterns, so today in the spirit of G's holiday decorating mission we made ghosts. These are always fun and easy to make and you can pretty much find a design for any holiday or season (here is a good tutorial with Halloween designs if you want more than my laid back general info!).


G and I cut strips of white tissue paper, pulled out brushes, put out craft mats, and poured Mod Podge into bowls. Working a strip at a time the boys then brushed on Mod Podge, then applied a strip, gently tapping and coating each strip as they adhered.


They did two layers, leaving the tops loose until the end. They then added Mod Podge to the top edge and then sprinkled a good bit of white thick glitter all over the outside.


Must have glitter.


We trimmed the tops so no white paper was over the opening and let them dry. We did apply a single water based varnish layer with a brush after the modpodge dried. If you don't use glitter you won't need it, but we didn't want to shed glitter forever (there are now versions of all-in-one Mod Podge glue/sealer/finish that glow in the dark, shimmer and have glitter, but ours was...plain).


When dry G helped draw face designs and I cut them out. He glued them on with a thick glue stick layer. All that was left was inserting a tea light and turning out the lights!

7 comments:

Stephanie said...

sigh. This is one of my favorite projects. I was just looking round the livingroom at the dozen or so Jacks we have around (from making them the past two years), thinking, "I love them so." They make me smile.
I'd make some ghosts, but probably we have enough! :)

denise said...

We have soaked ours clean in the past - I hate storing glass (always breaks on me) long term. That way we can make over and over and never tire of them! :)

Jennifer said...

All of your Halloween crafts are great, but I think this one may just be my favourite. Thanks so much for sharing!

mamaraby said...

I LOVE this!

sarah said...

inspired by your post, we did these today -- they turned out so great! thanks a million for sharing.

Jessica said...

Lovin' the ghosties! When we made our jack-o-lanterns this year Benjamin did one with a Planters peanuts jar...and afterward we both thought that size jar would make a cool Frankenstein's monster! We might try that one before Halloween, too!

Andrea said...

Those lanterns are fantastic! Thanks for sharing the detailed link, maybe I will pretend I am crafty and try these. I am amazed at all the cool Halloween stuff I am finding here on the blogs tonight.