Hi there, Halloween fans! Today we’ve got a mega fun and SUPER easy Jack-O-Lantern and Ghost Luminaries project for you, your family, and even your classroom! There isn’t a huge supply list, and some items are optional or can be replaced with other craft items you may have laying around. The kids have a great time getting sticky fingers too, so there’s that also! Let’s get started…
You might also enjoy our vintage Halloween paper dolls, too!
Easy Jack-O-Lantern and Ghost Luminaries Craft
Supplies:
- Clean, empty jars – peanut butter and salsa jars work well, but any jar will work, glass or clear plastic
- One large sheet of tissue paper – white for ghost or orange for jack-o-lantern
- School glue
- Black felt or paper
- Flameless tea lights
- (Optional) Chenille stems – green and brown
Start by ripping the tissue paper into 1-2″ pieces. Don’t worry if they’re crumpled or imperfect! Next, spread a small amount of clear school glue on a section of the jar. Spread it out with your fingers to make a very thin, even section.
Next, place pieces of tissue paper over the glued area, and smooth it down. Then put very small amounts of glue on top to smooth down the edges. You’ll want to overlap the edges so there are no ‘clear’ spots. (Some children will do better with fingers, some will do better with a paintbrush – either way will work. Be sure to smooth the edges from the center out, so as not to make too many wrinkles.
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Once you’ve covered your jar, draw out your face shapes. You can use one of our Pumpkin Carving Stencils (just reduce the print size) or just use your imagination (the ghosts are only three circles). I used peel and stick felt because it has a paper background, and saved us waiting for more glue to dry, but you can use regular felt or even construction paper. Then glue or stick the cutouts to one side of the luminary.
Optional: On the jack-o-lantern, you can wrap a brown chenille stem around the top, and then coil another to make a pumpkin stem. Then coil a piece of green chenille stem and pull it to stretch it out, then tuck it into the brown pumpkin stem. Your jack-o-lantern will still look amazing, even if you skip this step!
Turn on your flameless tea light and drop it in. Turn off the lights and enjoy the spooky glow! I truly hope you enjoyed learning how to make these easy jack-o-lantern and ghost luminaries with me! Tissue paper and glass jars are the easiest way to make luminaries for all occasions, but they turn out especially spooky this time of year!
