Jack-o'-Lantern Luminaries

So I decided to make Jack-o'-Lantern Luminaries...because I saw it on Pinterest.

"Crafty in the Kitchen: Mason Jar Lanterns"- This pin originally came from Our Best Bites.

Halloween is probably my most favorite of the non-religious holidays.  The weather is finally perfect, the kids are so cute when they say 'Trick or Treat' that you actually want to give them the last Snickers...

And really, is there any other time of year when this could be considered appropriate?

That's our Jackie-lantern.  Our sweet Jackie Russell.  We love her.  But she did not love that we dressed her up and took her to Pet Smart!  Bless it.  I don't think she got the humor in her being a Jackie-lantern.  So next time, she is going as a...cat. 

Anyway, I saw those adorable jack-o'-lantern luminaries and I decided to try to make some.  I have a collection of old Ragu and baby food jars of various sizes so I am going to be using those instead of Mason jars like the ones in the pin.  

I think Mason jars are definitely a better choice for cuteness, but free is always a better choice...period.

The luminaries in the pin were made by Modpodging tissue to the outside of the jars.  And I don't have any orange tissue.  So I just painted the outside of the jars lightly with some watered-down acrylic paints I already had. 

Luckily, they look better in the dark!  

I used black scrapbook paper to cut out the faces.  Then I glued them on using Elmer's glue sticks. I knew that six pack of glue sticks I got on Amazon would come in handy!  Six pack.  Of glue sticks... Total impulse buy.  Glad I can justify it now. (On a side note, Miss P thought the glue sticks were for her 'wips'.  I guess they do look like lipstick...)

It was so much fun to give them different personalities.  That's Edward there in the middle.  The purple vampire.  Just 20 days until Breaking Dawn.  Not that I'm counting...

I put some real tea lights in the Ragu jars and battery operated tea lights in the baby food jars.  I was scared the real tea lights would make the smaller jars too hot and nobody wants glass blowing up in their face.  Am I right?

So, these are totally adorable...

Poor Edward, I shouldn't have watered that purple paint down so much.  It looks like he's bleeding.  Lesson learned.

My sweet husband, Jake (Training Day or Sixteen Candles?  I'll never tell...) wanted to make one of his own.  

Geaux Tigers!  Ha!  My entire family just hissed in unison.  I mean, Roll Tide...?

This project was so easy and didn't take long to do at all.  The lanterns would have been way cuter if I had done them with tissue like the original pin, but everything I used was free, so I am not complaining!

Overall I give it an A+!  And by the way, I'm going to start using a 5 pin rating instead of the grading scale (thanks for that idea GoodGirlsInc!).  The teacher in me won't like it but...it's totally more appropriate.  I'm just working on the pin graphics.  Wish me luck!