Halloween Painted Jar Luminaries

This isn't the first time I've made luminaries for Halloween. Several years ago I made these painted Ghost Luminaries which are posted on FamilyCorner, these decoupaged Pumpkin Luminaries and this Candy Corn luminary which are both posted on Disney's Kaboose. Today I made some colorful luminaries inspired by the ones I saw on this cute blog called Not So Idle Hands. While Emily uses the decoupage method with strips of tissue paper, I opted for what I believe to be an easier, faster and less expensive method... paint.

Aside from the new luminaries I made (which I describe below), I also spruced up my others after unpacking my Halloween boxes. You see, hubby had the heat up so high today, and sometimes I swear I'm experiencing early menopause, that I just had to get out of the house. So I hit the garage. Hence unpacking Halloween boxes and doing this project.

To spruce up the Pumpkin Luminaries, which are decoupaged orange material, I used a damp rag to wipe them down, then I painted the yellow facial features black. Not sure what I was thinking when I did them yellow originally! Then I sprayed them with glaze.

You can see that the white ghost luminaries have been around for quite a few years. They are nicked and scratched, and I have lost several over the years to breakage, but these are still holding up. Each year I wipe them down and add another coat of glaze.

Over the summer I bought a couple of boxes of canning jars with the intention of canning. Well that didn't happen. So I opened a box, went inside and grabbed my acrylic craft paint, paintbrushes, and a dish of water and went to work.

One layer of acrylic craft paint was enough for these, but you can add another if you like.

Just be careful if you do, glass is picky about being painted and will peel if you don't allow the first layer to dry completely. Anyway, one layer gives you a nice rustic look, which I prefer, and you don't have to wait forever. ;)

You can make stencils out of cardboard cereal boxes like Emily did, she was even nice enough to post this pattern for her faces. I like to freehand my stuff, so that's what I did.

On a few I used a Sharpie marker to draw on the face, then I simply painted the facial features with black paint.

See that red guy on the right with the triangle eyes and the square mouth? He didn't make it. :( When I came back to see how they were doing a few hours after I sprayed them, he had somehow fallen off the edge and broke.

I painted the jar rims with black paint. Then let them all dry for about half an hour. Spray with glaze, I use two coats. Let dry for several hours.

After they've dried for several hours, you can have some fun displaying them. I use tea lights, I light them with a wooden skewer. I find it easiest to take a votive candle outside with me, light the skewer off the candle, then light the tea light inside the jar.

Warning - lots of pictures! I couldn't decide on my faves :)

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