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The Glow of Summer: Fun Lantern Crafts

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And at last, we see the light! With these beautiful glowing crafts, you can learn how to make a lantern, tiki torches, votives, and more. Every summer needs an extra special glow. Whether you’re throwing an outdoor party or barbecue, or planning on going camping, be sure to plan for some magical summer lighting. The enchantment of paper lanterns, glowing jars, and critters for kids can be all yours this summer.

Glow-of-Summer

How to Make a Lantern

Polka-Dot-Tissue-Lantern[1]

Nothing says summertime romance like a beautiful paper lantern. Even though these don’t float into the air like Rapunzel’s did, they are still lovely and will give any summer gathering a magical feel. Some are round, some are square, some are tall, and some are short. Whatever your lighting needs may be, there is a lantern waiting to be made with your hands.

Polka Dot Tissue Lantern

Chinese Paper Lanterns

Tomato Cage Lanterns

Personalized Paper Lantern

Glowing Glass Bottles

Bold-Bottle-Tiki-Torches--1--[1]

Shiny glass is just the right touch for a glowing flame. These crafts will help you combine two beautiful elements: fire and glass. Tiki torches are the most festive outdoor lighting for the summer, and you can use them again and again. Votives are clever crafts that book your decorating skills to the test. Don’t fret if you live in the city, because you can also create special star lights and lanterns that will turn your walls (or the roof of your tent) into a starry sky on a cloudy night.

Bold Bottle Tiki Torches

Seaside Votives

Sparkling Star Gold Lights

Fancy Pretty Decoupaged Jar Lanterns

DIY Night Lights for the Kids

glowing-mason-jars[1]

Don’t hog all the lighthearted whimsy to yourself. These DIY night lights are perfect for the kids to help you with. They can make colored Mason jars, fun glowing critters, and create there own starry sky lanterns. These crafts are perfect for the family camping trip or an outdoor sleepover. No matter what you do this summer, make sure the younger ones get a taste of summertime enchantment for themselves.

Glowing Mason Jars

Unexpected Plastic Egg Fireflies

Blob Votives

Jellyfish Light Ocean Crafts

Starlight Tin Can Lanterns

BONUS:  Find more DIY summer decorations and a few tasty recipes!  Our free eBook 12 Fabulous Picnic Craft Ideas + Restaurant Copycat Recipes has everything you need to plan the perfect outdoor picnic. Let your craftiness shine!

SONY DSC

DOUBLE BONUS:  If you want to turn “junk” into more fun projects, have some a little extra crafty summer fun with 32 Recycle Crafts for Kids.

Plastic-Bottle-Bird-Feeder(1)

Which glowing summer craft is your favorite and why?

 

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Get Your Glow On: 15 Crafts to Brighten Up Your Home

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Winter can be quite beautiful, but there are also some downsides to this season. One of the worst things about winter has to be how dark it gets. The sun rises way too late and sets far too early. Let me tell you crafters, I miss the sun. But just because winter is holding the sun captive doesn’t mean we have to go without some form of light. I’ve compiled a list of crafts to bring a little light back into your life (at least until that glorious summer sun returns).

Get Your Glow On: 15 Crafts to Brighten Up Your Home

From candles to lanterns, there are plenty of ways to get your glow on. Looking for a standout decoration? String some LED lights into a DIY wreath, tuck them into a bottle, or weave them into a centerpiece. Looking to create a warm, glowing ambiance? Try some candles or little lanterns. While the sun is occupied, we’ll just have to create a little light for ourselves. Check out some of the crafts below!

Lanterns

Lanterns are a wonderful way to brighten up a room. Outdoors or indoors, these are fun crafts you can use even after winter. Learn how to make a lantern with these tutorials:

Lanterns

  1.  Winter Wonderlantern
  2. Light Up Recycled Lanterns
  3. Thrifty Tin Can Lantern
  4. Christmas Lantern
  5. Lantern for Winter Solstice

 

DIY Candles and Votives

Nothing can give a room a soft, warm ambiance like a candle. Check out these candle tutorials and learn to make your own:

DIY Candles

  1. Christmas Tea Cup Candles
  2. Slow Cooker Candles
  3. Cinnamon Candles
  4. DIY Holiday Shimmer Candles
  5. Little Seedpod Candles

 

LED Projects

LED lights are so versatile. You could string them throughout a room, weave them into a wreath, stuff them into a bottle, or even wrap them around a bike. Create a standout piece of DIY home decor with these crafts:

LED Light Projects

  1. Rustic Pine Cone Light Basket
  2. Light Up Frosted Ball Wreath
  3. Giant Coffee Filter Snowball Light
  4. Way Easy Wine Bottle Light
  5. Night Sky in a Bottle

Don’t miss out on our Ultra Thin Wire LED Lights giveaway!

Ultra Thin Wire LED Lights

One lucky winner will win a set of Ultra Thin Wire LED Lights in our current giveaway! Here’s what you could win:

  • Six  7′ strands, one in each color: warm white, green, cold white, pink, red and blue.
  • Two 30′ strands, one warm white and the other cold white.

The giveaway ends January 14, 2014, don’t miss out on your chance to win!

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New Pattern Monday: Homemade Home Dec Extravaganza!

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What good is a craft if you can’t use it for something? Wearable crafts stand in for boring store-bought fashion, crocheted afghans keep you warm in front of the tube, and homemade cards can be given to friends on special occasions.

Similarly, crafts that double as home decor can personalize your home on the cheap. On FaveCrafts.com last week, we put up some great new home decorating craft projects to try, all of which use recycled materials or supplies you already have in your stash.

Polka Dot Tissue Lantern: Embellish a paper lantern with tissue paper scraps cut into circles. The tissue paper is translucent, which allows the light from the lamp to glow warmly through the polka dots.

Polka Dot Tissue Lamp

Mosaic Wall: Never has a home decorating idea been this easy–just adhere extra scrapbook paper or card stock to your wall with glue dots to add some personality to your room.

Mosaic Wall

Paper Graffiti Lamp: Who uses phone books anymore now that we have the internet? No one, unless they’re making this edgy lamp. Rip phone book pages into strips to embellish a plain lamp shade.

Paper Graffiti Lamp

If your appetite for home decorating crafts has still not been satiated, check out “Great Decor in a Flash Without a Lot of Cash.”

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New Categories

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We’ve been updating our web site for some time now. Be sure you check out the changes. We’ve added new categories. We now have a holiday category, party time and special occasions. Under party time you can expect such crafts as lanterns and table decorations, invitations and keepsakes.

summer-table-decorations

Under holiday crafts we made it easier for you, all the holidays have their own section! And for those special occasions we have crafts for anniversaries, graduation, birthdays and retirement.

anniversary

We have tons of great crafts for you, so make sure you check out the new categories!

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Summer Party: Lanterns and Table Decorations

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We are working with a new craft manufacturer called My Mind’s Eye. They make the most amazing scrapbook papers and sent over two “summer party” projects this week. These lanterns, placemats, napkin rings and coasters could easily become permanent fixtures of your home. I know I’d love some paper lanterns hanging around the house.

Summer Party Lanterns

Summer Party: Table Decorations

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Repurposed Glass Jar Lanterns

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Every so often, I get a little fancy and buy the gourmet yogurt from our local supermarket that comes in lovely glass jars. This yogurt comes in flavors like Lemon Ginger and Blueberry, so you can understand why I occasionally splurge. I keep all these glass jars for crafting, and they are starting to line up on window sills around the kitchen. When I was young, I used to fill these kinds of jars with colored marbles. The sun coming through the jars was gorgeous. Now I have something else in mind.

When I was on the train to Belfast a new weeks ago, I was reading MAKE magazine (my boyfriend has EVERY issue). Most of the projects, I must say, are quite beyond by means here in Ireland without a proper work shed, but one seemed possible. Basically, the project is for a hanging lantern made with a glass jar and an inexpensive LED light. A feather hangs from the lantern and the lantern lights up as the feather is moved by the wind. To learn how to make this project, you’ll have to check out MAKE Volume 17.

For something a little easier, you can use simple tea lights and sturdy wire to make hanging lanterns. Or, create votives by decorating the jar in a number of ways. Frosting with special paints is a fun look and you can leave shapes or monograms un-frosted.  I know these glass jars will come in handy for Halloween.

For something completely unrelated to lighting, you could also paint cherries on the side for a little candy jar for your desk.

What do you think I should do with them?

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