Photo courtesy of and with permission from www.australiaentertains. com.au
If you’re next kids birthday party is in the evening, luminarias make a beautiful and festive outside decoration to get your guests in the party spirit (and thanks to www.australiaentertains.com.au for giving us permission to use their lovely photo). They’re easy to make yourself.
All you need are:
• lunch bags in white or the standard brown- the colored ones cost more and the color doesn’t really show up very well in the dark anyways.
• Heavy duty tea lits or votive candles, 1 per bag
• Sand, kitty litter, gravel, or dirt to weight the bags and to anchor the candles inside the bags
• A mat knife
Find one or more pictures on line that complement your theme and have a good ‘outline’ shape as you will use these as a template for cutting the ‘windows’ in your luminarias. The simpler the shape is to trace with your mat knife, the better. Print these pictures on card stock or on regular paper that you glue to cardboard or cardstock to make your template. On a breadboard or other appropriate surface for cutting, open out the bottom of the lunchbag so that the top edges of the two sides are even, and cut out the windows through both thicknesses with your mat knife and template.
When all are cut, put in enough kitty litter or sand to securely anchor the candle, place them attractively outside (these are dangerous to use inside) and light your candles at party time.
Luminarias are easy to make and you’ll save money doing it yourself. Like many do-it-yourself kids birthday party decorations and projects, you might have some quality together time doing it with your birthday child.
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