Starry Lanterns

I took another class at B Street Mercantile last week. My life has gotten so crazy that the only time I have to be creative is to take a class.  We made lanterns in this class and I am already buzzing with ideas for future ones!

What You Need:

Mason jar with lid
Paint (gold leaf or glass paint or spray paint)
Stickers
Nail and hammer
Wire
Painter's tape


The instructor had already prepared the mason jars for us.  She took off the lid and punched a hole on either side of the lid using a hammer and nail. She then strung wire through the lid rim and screwed it onto the jar.

I decided to use a gold leaf paint on my jar.

I used foam star stickers on my jar. In the future, I would not use foam. Because they are so fat and do not lay flat, it is easy to accidentally get paint under the edges. I wrapped painter's tape around the top of the jar so I could get a nice clean painted edge.

The gold leaf spread on very nicely and didn't require a lot of paint. We used sponge brushes to dab on the paint.  I let the paint dry a little bit and then carefully peeled off the star stickers using an X-acto knife.

The edges of my stars weren't as sharp as I would like. In the future, I will use regular flat stickers.  I already have big ideas for the future. I'd love to do snowflake stickers with silver paint and maybe jack 'o' lantern faces with orange paint for Halloween. I'd love to experiment with spray paint for faster and more even coverage. 

Drop in a tealight, candle, or battery-operated candle and you have an adorable lantern!