Although these spooky Halloween lanterns look effective, they take no time at all to make. In fact, you could have them ready in 10 minutes from start to finish once you sit down with the few things you need. Oh, and I find little lanterns like these a great way to recycle glass jars.
On Mondays, Wriggly (2 years 3 months) and I are on our own for approximately five hours. We usually play in the morning and I get on with tidying up and cleaning when she has a nap. She has started to fight sleep and on Monday, as she would not sleep, I decided to have a bit of fun with her.
Obviously, making lanterns with Wriggly took longer than 10 minutes because I was letting my little lady have fun, but when I make them by myself, they take 5-10 minutes each.
To start with, Wriggly was not too sure about the glue. She kept looking at traces of it on her hand and she had a wary look about her, but after a minute, she embraced the chaos and started spreading the glue on her jar using a paintbrush.
She also enjoyed adding on small pieces of tissue paper, until they started sticking to her hands, bless her.
You can tear small strips of tissue paper like we did previously to make Halloween lanterns, but this time, I used a paper trimmer to save time.
This is what we used:
A few clean empty jars, labels taken off
PVA glue* mixed with water
A paintbrush
Tissue paper*
Halloween silhouettes (I found ours on Pinterest, and they were from there and there)
Scissors
Tea light candles
Start by cutting the tissue paper of tearing it into small strips.
Cut around the silhouettes. For more intricate designs, you can use nail scissors.
Cover the outside of a jar with glue, and add tissue paper on top.
A couple of layers will give a good finish.
Brush more glue on top of the tissue paper, stick your silhouette and cover it in glue as well, so you get a nice, glossy finish when it is dry. Place your jars upside down on a cooling rack for the night.
Disclosure: *This blog post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
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What spooky fun!
He he!
These are amazing! I cant believe how easy they are to make! I will be giving this a go!
I hope you enjoy making them!
These are so cool! I have to make one x
Thanks Hannah!
These seem awesome, I may have to try and make these with my daughter x
Let me know if you do!
These are such a great idea! Will have to make some with Jack!
Thanks lovely. So easy too!
What a brilliant idea, I love the cat one. Off to fish the jars I just put into the recycling thingy back out of it again!
Ha ha, you made me giggle here! Go on, make them and then tag me when you share a photo on social media 🙂
Wow this is so creative. You guys did an amazing job.
Thanks lovely
Wow, I love these! They’re so cool, I may just have to try making one myself!
Let me know if you do!
What a great crafty thing to do. They look amazing.
Thanks Georgina, they were so much fun to make. A perfect morning with my girlie.
These are a lovely idea! So much easier than carving a pumpkin lol I can just about manage jagged teeth. Going to make these with my little one, he will love them
Make sure you tag me on Instagram of Twitter if you do make them. I’d love to see you ones!
What ratio do you mix the PVA and water? Thanks
Hi Sammie, I just add a tablespoon or two to make the PVA glue a bit thinner.
Love this inspiration, thank you. Just pulled a load of jars from the recycling bin and got all sticky with the daughter. Think we’ll do this at Christmas too 🤗
Oh that’s brilliant! I’m so glad you made these little jars! Here are my Christmas ones: https://lecoindemel.com/reindeer-lanterns/
What is PV glue?
PVA glue is also known as wood glue, white glue, carpenter’s glue, school glue or Elmer’s glue. I hope this helps 🙂