DIY Mason Jar Holiday Luminaria • The Budget Decorator
This year my teenage daughter wants a more traditional holiday theme in our house… apparently as cute as our “theme” Christmases have been, she longs for something more red and green, like when she was little. ( Come on! Our Candyland Christmas Tree was AMAZING!) I myself, was longing for lots of frosty snow, and birch log candles, and starry whites…Feelin’ me, readers? But hey, she has a point. Gotta admit, I miss that homey Classic Christmas feel too! She sold us on the idea, so we started brainstorming some DIY Christmas crafts we could make, without having to buy an entirely new set of decorations. I ran across this cute mason jar luminary made for Halloween by ‘My Anything and Everything‘ and decided it would be a perfect idea, with a few Christmas tweaks! Love the way our DIY mason jar holiday luminaria turned out, they will definitely be front and center for our “Vintage Home” holiday theme this year! (Sorry, I can’t help it with the themes…)
We chose to use the word “Joy” and three glass mason jars, but obviously it’s up to you.
***Thrilled that our DIY Mason Jar Holiday Luminaria is featured in the 2016 Country Sampler’s “Christmas Decorating” Magazine!
DIY Mason Jar Luminaria
First of all, what the heck are holiday luminaries? Traditionally luminaria bags were filled with sand and a candle to light the winter night. During the holiday season, many towns hold Luminaria Festivals where the streets are lined with shimmering bags of light. Sante Fe has one of the most famous ones. We took the luminaria bag idea and made it a little safer for indoors with the frosted mason jars and the LED candles. Oh, and these are pretty fun holiday projects too!
DIY Mason Jar Luminaria Supplies
You can get all of these items at most craft stores. We really like Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
- Smooth sided glass mason jars (Hobby Lobby is where we got ours)
- Frosted glass spray paint
- Clear matte sealer, or glitter spray paint
- Stick on letters to spell your word
- Spray paint for the lids (optional)
- LED votive candles (Craft stores, or at Home Depot in the Xmas Section)
- Ribbon and picks for the lid
Step One
Mason Jar Letters
Place the letter sticker on each mason jar, centered as much as possible. I used a piece of painters tape along the bottom of each jar to give me a guideline of how far up to place the sticker… so they would all be the same distance from the bottom when lined up next to each other. Make sense? Rub the sticker on well so no paint leaks underneath. (You will be learning how to frost the glass jars with spray paint next!) Remove lids and rings.
Step Two
How to Frost Glass Mason Jars
Spray paint the jars with the frosted glass paint. I did mine in three light coats, letting it dry at least 15 minutes between coats. Let dry at least one hour after last coat, then lightly spray with clear glitter spray paint to seal. We started out thinking glitter spray, then had clear sealer left over from another project we used on each mason jar luminary jar. Let dry overnight. Note: Please check your spray sealer in an inconspicuous spot if you choose to use it. Some readers have mentioned that some sealers removed the frosted look of the glass paint on the luminaria.
Step Three
Paint Mason Jar Lids and Rings
If desired, spray paint the rings and lids on your frosted glass mason jars. I used a silver sparkle spray paint, ‘cause thats what I had. You can leave them gold if you like. Whatever you love for holiday decorating style!
Step Four
Remove Mason Jar Stickers
Remove the stickers. I warmed them up with a hair dryer first so they would peel off easily… I was concerned about scratching off the frosted paint if they were too hard to get off. That worked out really well.
Step Five
Decorate Your Mason Jar DIY
I tied some mini ornaments onto some wire ribbon, wrapped it twice around the top of the mason jar luminaries, then tied it.
Step Six
Add Candles to Your Frosted Mason Jar
Add your LED votive to the bottom of the mason jar, with or without a little craft snow. We discovered when we used snow that it boosted the height of the candles in the mason jar luminaries, and we would have placed the letters a little higher on the jar if we had realized this before hand… Just FYI!
Done! I use some dollar store cooking tongs to grab the votives to pull them up for turning on and off… Seems easier then sliding them out each time, especially if you are using snow! A little tip… the words show up best against a dark background, so keep that in mind when you are placing these DIY mason jar holiday luminaria come the holidays!
Wishing you “Joy” for your holidays!
Here’s a great Pin for you to save for later if you love mason jar Christmas crafts!
We hope you loved our DIY mason jar luminaria! Check out our post on DIY Snow Globes or DIY Christmas Cone Trees. And jump on over to our post on Fireplace Christmas Decor Ideas over at OhMeOhMy!
