Some DIY candle "lanterns" *pics*

[cassiopeia]

Ok, this is my last post tonight, I promise! Hehehe. My boss (huge packrat!) was cleaning out his apartment and I snagged about 100 different sized Mason jars from him. Most of them are the larger canning size and there were about 20 smaller jelly jars. I was going to just put white votives in sand in them for the perimeter of the reception site, but found this beautiful wrapping paper at our dollar store and decided that instead of having flowers on the cocktail tables I'm going to do 7 sets of these:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e11/chultin/DIY/TableJars1.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e11/chultin/DIY/TableJars2.jpg


I tore the wrapping paper into little pieces and decoupaged it onto the jars using a mixture of elmer's glue and water (about 4 parts glue to one part water), it gave them a nice glossy enamel like finish. The wrapping paper is pretty thick, more like regular paper, so it took a while to do these, the paper has to get a little saturated before it conforms to the jar. They look prettier in the light/without the candles lit, I think.

On the other hand, the big jars I used tissue paper on and are super super quick. I have done about 40 of these and I have to say that I really prefer the plain white (our colors are blue/green/white/ivory with tiny hints of pink, and almost everything is white and ivory so I wanted to have a couple things that were colorful) so I may use these around the edges of the property and do the rest of the jars, for walkways, in just white. I'm not sure yet.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e11/chultin/DIY/GroungJars1.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e11/chultin/DIY/GroundJars2.jpg

I've been working on this stuff since January, I'm glad I finally got some pictures taken and posts written!

[Goin2thechapel]

Soooo awesome....I would have never thought to do something like that!!!

[smileyone2002]

You are on a role and so creative!!!:laugh:

[cassiopeia]

Thanks guys!
I am not super crazy about the little ones, which is odd because I love the paper. I am trying to think of something to do with them so they look a little more finished. I tried a band of ivory ribbon but it wasn't quite right. Also the tops are really hard to do and they look kind of unfinished, but am stumped as to what else I can use on them.
Was just thinking of painting the insides with a thin layer of glue and then covering it with sand, so they're a little less opaque and there's some texture in there. Wonder what it would look like if I did the very top in sand also. We're using beach rocks, instead of river rocks, in all the centerpieces because it's the Cape, maybe it would look cool. Maybe I'll try it next time I am home.
OR, I wonder if I can put the bands (not the lid) back on them once they are papered. I think I threw them out but I'm not sure, they may be around.

[smileyone2002]

I personally liked the smaller ones without the candles in them. When you had the candles in them it took away from the prettiness of the paper.

[cassiopeia]

I personally liked the smaller ones without the candles in them. When you had the candles in them it took away from the prettiness of the paper.

I agree! I wonder if I painted the inside white (or maybe the color of the paper) you'd be able to see the paper better with the candle lit? What else could I put in there. Hmmm...
I found some of the bands and with a little finagling they do fit back on so maybe I will paint them ivory and put them back on. Or leave them gold.
They look like this (the gold part) if you leave the lid off, it's open on the top still

http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pACE-957285t110.jpg

[SouthernQueenBride]

What a crafty girl you are!!! They look great!

[Fwan]

I think for the top part instead of the ribbon you can glue on some pears around it or some pebbly stuff :) for an elegant finished look.
I remember doing these in primary school, we glued cool paper onto a small coca cola glass bottle and gave it to our mothers as a vase for mothers day!

[mtigercat]

i remember doing something like that in elementary school too. we took a coke bottle ripped up masking tape into little pcs. stuck them all over the bottle and each other (so no glass peeked through) then i think we took shoe polish and wiped it all over and left it dry. made the bottle look like sort of antiqued. i don't remember what we did with it after that tho...

[cinderellasmom]

So creative!