Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Upcycled Luminaries Tutorial



I don't know about you, but I love candles. I also love not burning down the house while I'm enjoying the warm glow of firelight. Over the years I have amassed quite the collection of glass votive-candle holders, but I wouldn't want to put them outside on a very cold night. I am planning on making a whole lot of these luminary cans and placing them along my sidewalk on the colder holidays.

Since they're made from cans (the small one was pumpkin, the big one was tomatoes) when I get tired of them I can put them in the recycle bin and make new ones! 

Are you ready to get crafty? Once your can is prepped, this takes no time at all. I made both of these in twenty minutes.


Supplies:
Cans from canned goods
A large nail (mine was 2 1/2 inches)
A hammer
A pattern (got mine for free from Martha Stewart. Her website has all kinds of free templates)
Tape to hold the pattern on.

Step one: fill your can with water, leaving a 1/2 inch unfilled at the top. Stick that in the freezer, preferably overnight. I've been freezing the cans as I use them.

Step two: tape your template to your can.

Check out my homemade potholders...pretty sweet, right?


Step three: use your hammer to drive the nail into each one of the dots on your pattern. It shouldn't take a whole lot of effort. Work quickly, as the ice melts the paper gets wet and tends to slide which can lead to some funky-looking patterns.


Step four: Put some candles inside, light them up and watch the show.

Pretty easy, right? The variations on this one are endless.


5 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:34 AM

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    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Anonymous.
    English as a second language, or internet-trolling robot?
    It's hard to tell.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2:01 PM

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    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5:20 AM

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    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous8:44 PM

    LOL! I like internet-trolling robot! LOL!

    Kara, so glad to see how these finally turned out! I love them! I think I shall add this one to my crafts I'd like to do list! Thanks for the rockin' tutorial as well!

    ReplyDelete