By Veronique Habermann
There is a growing Christmas Eve trend in my neighborhood surpasses
my expectation each year. When it first began,
only a few houses lined their property with luminaries on that special night. More
recently, I have been surprised and
enchanted to see the snowball effect it has created as more and more families
participate each year.
Last year, in
particular, it seems that I was able
to drive back from my family Christmas dinner through a mile of uninterrupted
light-bordered streets. It was magic. My little nephew was with me in the car
and he looked awestruck looking out his window. I told him that it was Santa’s
landing strip! I love the community spirit of this tradition, and I hope it is a trend that will be here to
stay.
If you’d like to make luminaries this year, you will need:
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Brown paper lunch bags
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Tea light candles
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Rice or sand
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An exacto knife
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Leftover white paint (We use Valspar’s Dove White)
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A paint brush
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Water
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Pencil
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Templates (you can download HERE)
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A drop cloth
1.
2.
3.
4.
Paint each bag with the white paint and water. As you paint
every side of the bag over the drop cloth,
it creates unevenness, which is good—a
very cool, frosty and organic look.
It is a very quick process.
When the bags are dry,
insert a piece of cardboard and draw a letter from a word you want to spell or
a holiday shape (You can even use this template). Then carefully use exacto
knife to cut out the shape.
Place a handful of rice or sand at bottom of bag.
Once the bag is upright,
I like to roll top of bags to give them a little more body.
Insert a candle,
line bags outside, wait for dawn and
lit them up. You can reuse the same luminaries year after years.
Happy holidays and enjoy!