Luminaries for Holiday Decor

Make your home warm and cozy for the holidays with DIY luminaries!

This is an amazing way to decorate with less and still feel the magic of the holiday season.  I've been using luminaries for years now and they never cease to amaze -- thank you the36thavenue.com and candletech.com!  I use vanilla scented paraffin wax (the kind you use for pillar candles) because they won't melt from the heat of the soy wax tealight.

So read on and have fun!

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I started with some of my kids' water balloon granades I had left over from my fella's birthday.  

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Filled it 3/4 of the way with water and tied a knot in the top.

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I dipped the water balloon to just under the water line so that the balloon didn't pop.  I did 3-4 dips at a time (pausing for maybe 7 -10 seconds between dips, then let the balloon sit 5-10 minutes. 

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Repeated this process until there's about an 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch of wax.

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Popped the balloon over the sink to avoid a mess.  Shake out any excess wax from the edges. You'll have some rough edges like this too, but the fix for that is coming next.  :)

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Taa-Daa!  I warmed a glass pie pan on the stove and put a sheet of foil on top.  For just a sec, I then turned the luminary upside down on the pan--being sure to let it go so it melted evenly.  Had to repeat the same on the bottom--it was uneven.  ;)

ALL DONE!

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Here are the finished results! If you try it, please show us your pics!