Snowman Luminaries: Easy Craft

All the snowflakes in the air and on the ground this past week have really put me in the winter spirit, and I’ve begun to decorate for the holidays. Last week we brought out all of our snowman decorations, and made a bunch of these adorable snowman tea light luminaries to add to our collection. These luminaries can hold a tea light or a votive candle. They were really easy to make and require only a handful of basic craft supplies. 

To make snowman luminaries, you’ll need:

• glass jars with lids
• black paint
• paint brush
• white tissue paper
• mod-podge (or white school glue thinned with a bit of water)
• googly eyes
• washi tape (or ribbon or fabric scraps) for the scarf scarf
• scissors
• orange craft foam (or felt or card stock) for the carrot nose
• buttons
• glue (we used a low-heat glue gun but white glue would do)

And to light our luminaries, we used plastic, battery-operated flicker candles. You can find these at most dollar stores.

To make your luminaries:

We began by giving our jar lids two coats of black acrylic craft paint, and then then we got to work on turning our jars into snowmen!

First, we brushed on a thin layer of mod-podge. Then we pressed torn strips of white tissue paper into the mod-podge, and using a paintbrush dipped in more mod-podge, we smoothed the tissue paper to the jar. Overlap the pieces of tissue paper until the entire jar is covered.

Don’t worry about wrinkles and crinkles. They add to the character and texture of the snowman. Just want to make sure any obvious lumps are smoothed out, and that you don’t have too much excess around the very top of the jar. You want to be able to fit your snowman’s hat on when you’re finished.

Depending on the temperature of your home, it may take the tissue paper a while to dry. We placed ours beside the fireplace, and in an hour or so, they were ready for us to continue.

Next, we wrapped a strip of washi tape around each snowman, tucking a couple of short, snipped pieces up under the scarf near the front of the snowman’s body.

With our low heat glue-gun we applied our buttons down the front of the jars.

Lastly, we glued on the googly eyes and “carrot” nose.

For the finishing touch we popped a black hat on top of each snowman.

Aren’t they adorable?

And now, to test out our luminaries! We dropped a flicker candle into each jar, and turned out the lights. Perfect!

I think these little snowmen would be adorable lining a mantle or a dining room table. You could even use them as a night-light in your child’s bedroom during the holiday season!