Baby Jar Heart Luminaries

We have been crafting for Valentines Day. It will soon be here and heart crafts are fun to do all year round! We have made some adorable Heart Luminaries that are perfect to give to loved ones with a little candle! Why not give one with a 'I Love You to Pieces Suncatcher Card'?

I have more stock in my house than the Supermarket when it comes to baby food! I have 2 very hungry babies who munch their way through 4 jars of baby food a day! That's 28 jars a week and I always buy a months worth when I go to the shops - I look like a crazy lady as my trolley is full of 112 baby food jars! It's not too bad when the twins are with me - but when they aren't HA! I look CRAZY!

I honestly can't tell you how annoying it is getting them all scanned too! The scanner always plays up and I end up loosing count! Going off a little there, but here is an insight to how my life is at the moment. I wash the jars out and it greaves me to throw them in the bin as I always think 'I'm sure we could make something using these'. It doesn't please my other half one bit. He actually jokes and says if something was to happen to me you would be in serious trouble as the house would just be full of empty, washed out rubbish!

Well to my lovely other half - today we made something with the jars - brace yourself because you have them coming your way! (My daughter has requested he takes them to work to put on his desk!)

I did find that rather amusing - the 'junk' will be haunting him at work then too!! But you see, it's no longer junk, they are pretty little heart luminaries. Not only adorable for Valentines Day but for all year long! Who doesn't love heart decorations?

To make Heart Luminaries you will need:

Empty Jars (Baby Jars are super cute but larger ones would work too)

Glue

Scissors

Tissue Paper (cut into hearts)

Glue Spreader/Paintbrush

Candle (Battery operated)

Make sure your jars are completely cleaned out and dried. Cut out your tissue paper into hearts. With my daughter only just turning 4, I cut the hearts out - however older children may wish to cut out their own.


We did a little experiment and popped some translucent paper over the jar first before adding the hearts.. First we coated the jar in glue, popped on the paper and glued over the top. We wanted to take a look and compare what they looked like when lit with and without the paper.


This is what it looked like with the candle in. I think it looks really pretty. I would recommend that battery operated candles are used with these crafts.


It was time to try making some without the translucent paper. First we coated the jar with PVA glue. Make sure you use a paintbrush you aren't too precious about as it's unlikely you will be able to get all of the glue out after this craft.




Then we added the tissue paper hearts. Once they were stuck in place we PVA glued over them again. You wont want to brush over them too much as you could rip the paper and the colour will also begin to smudge.



I loved how my daughter added them in a line going around the jar. It wasn't a design I had thought of. It's my favourite out the 4 we made.


Don't they look beautiful? As I mentioned earlier I would highly recommend using battery operated candles. It does pose a danger using paper and glue using a naked flame in the jar. Not only that but you will no doubt find the little ones are fascinated with them once they are lit.
My daughter wouldn't leave them alone so I made sure I changed them to battery operated tealights. You can pick them up very cheaply at most shops.

Another thing to keep in mind is the jars. Baby jars are made of glass. If you feel they will be suitable to use with your children under supervision - that is your decision. If you went for a plastic container - you would need to use battery operated candles ever more so.