Halloween paper luminaries

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I love making simple, handmade decorations to liven up my living room and front porch. So, when I saw this idea on Pinterest for heart shapes sandwiched between wax paper as a wrapping for baked goods I decided to give the technique a Halloween twist and make batty Halloween luminaries.

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

• Scissors
• Black paper, both text-weight and cardstock
• Wax paper
• Paper towels
• Iron
• Scotch tape, satin or invisible finish work the best
• Hole punches, I used a hand punch and drill punch
• Glass votive holders
• Battery powered tealights
• Other Halloween props for your display

Starting with the lighter-weight black paper, cut it into rectangles about 1.5-2" wide by about 1" tall. When I'm cutting paper shapes I find smaller paper pieces easier to manage.



Here's how I cut mine. With 4 cuts of the scissors, I have my bat! You can draw out your design in pencil before-hand if you prefer to follow lines when you're cutting.



Cut a bunch of these guys out, at different sizes. Punch some holes in the same paper to get the dots.

Roll out the wax paper and tear off a piece large enough to wrap around your glass with about a 2" overlap. Fold it half the short way.




Lay the wax paper on a paper towel on an ironing board. Arrange your bats and dots on the lower half of the wax paper in an arrangement that you like, then fold the top piece over it, so your paper bats are in between two sheets of wax paper. Place another paper towel on top of the sandwich, set the iron to medium heat, and lightly run the iron over the paper towel until the was paper fuses to itself.



Don't worry about bubbles in the wax paper - you won't be able to see them when they're around the candle holder. Trim it down so there's only a 1/2" overlap. Cut a zig-zag border in the top, roll it around the votive holder and tape it together. Drop in a battery powered tea light.


For the black luminaries, cut a piece of the black cardstock about 1/2" wider than the circumference of your glass and randomly punch holes all over it. Tape a piece of wax paper on the back of it, roll it around the glass, and tape together.



I made 5: two of the black polka-dotted ones and 2 bat designs at different heights. I also made one with a spooky dead tree and fence, so get creative with it! You could try witches, cats, spiders...



I turned my luminaries into a centerpiece feature. To do this, I used a black and white striped bowl, turned it upside down, and added a dinner plate with a white doily to the top. I arranged the luminaries on the plate and added some black silk flowers and glittered spiders that I already had in my stash. The tealights flicker, so they cast some spooky shadows. 



I hope you try making some of these yourself. Happy crafting!