Here’s a great idea for making decorations for your Halloween party – and an excellent use for empty glass jars. The project is so simple that even very young children will be able to make their own Halloween Lantern. 
Cara Barrell did this project with a group of children (some as young as 3 years old) during the 2018 Autumn half term at an event hosted by The Party Company in Godalming.
Materials & Tools List
- An empty glass jar
- Tissue paper (Mulberry Tissue papers have wisps of Mulberry fibre in them which will look very effective with light passing through them)
- Black paper
- Graphite or white pencil for drawing your template (alternatively you may be able to find a suitable template on the internet)
- Scissors or craft knife
- PVA Glue and empty jar for diluting with water
- Paint brush or glue spreader
How to Make your Halloween Lantern
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- Dilute approximately 1 desert spoon of PVA glue in 100ml water and stir well.
- Tear a sheet of tissue paper into 5-6cm squares.
- Prepare face or creature shapes by cutting them out of black paper (examples below!)
- Paint the outside of one half of the jar with the diluted PVA and stick the torn paper onto the wet surface. Overlap the edges slightly to ensure that the whole of the glass is covered.
- Paint over the stuck paper with a further coat of the diluted PVA.
- Turn the jar and repeat the above steps on the other side.
- Glue the back of the face or creature shapes with the diluted PVA and place on the jar. Glue over the top of these shapes to ensure they are flat and properly stuck.
- Allow to dry, add a battery operated tealight, and switch out the lights!
More Ideas for Lantern Jars…
- Make a “Mummy” Halloween Lantern. Tear strips of cotton cloth and wrap it around the jar leaving a gap for the mouth (see Cara’s lantern top right), glue it in place and stick on googly eyes for extra effect! Use Scrim as an alternative and layer it for a different effect
- For Christmas, choose a dark blue or white tissue paper and stick on gold stars
- Cover the jar with red or pink paper and glue on hearts for a romantic Valentine