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Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries

September 2, 2013 1 Comment

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

Take it easy this Labor Day and whip up a set of these simple lantern-style luminaries. I love these for every season of the year – all you have to do is swap out the color of the paper used to make them fit right in on a Halloween, Christmas, or any tablescape. If you craft on a regular basis, you might even have the needed supplies on hand already too!

Supplies

votive candles that come in glass holders
matte Mod Podge
sponge brush
tissue paper
pre-filled glass votive candles
x-acto knife
pencil
scissors
measuring tape
ruler
waxed paper
cardboard or foam core to protect your work surface

Directions

Measure the wider end of your votive and then measure its height using a tape measure. With those numbers, draw a rectangle on your tissue paper for each votive, and cut them out.

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

Set your tissue paper pieces on some cardboard or foam core and slice lines down the length of each rectangle without cutting through any edge of the tissue paper. Lay your sliced rectangles on waxed paper and carefully paint a layer of Mod Podge over them.

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

Let dry for 5 minutes. Very carefully peel them from the waxed paper. Set each aside on a new, dry sheet of waxed paper to dry all the way.

Why hassle with delicate tissue paper on this project?
Tissue paper lets more light through! Yes, the slits in the paper will let light through, but the tissue paper will let even more light shine. You can swap regular paper for the tissue paper if you’d like, which would let you skip the waxed paper/Mod Podge layer/careful peel steps. 

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

When the tissue paper has dried completely, cut along the slits with an x-acto knife to reopen them and carefully pull each slit apart.

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

Paint approximately a centimeter of Mod Podge onto the top edge of your votive. You want to start with the top edge here because most votives that come in a container are wider at the top than bottom.

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

Position your tissue paper about half a centimeter from the edge of the top of your votive. Place the tissue paper all the way around the votive, and when you come back around, there will be a little bit of overlap. Add a dot of Mod Podge at the point of overlap to secure. Next, paint some Mod Podge over the tissue paper along the top end of the votive.

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

Just like at the top of your votive, paint a ring of Mod Podge about a centimeter wide along the bottom edge of the votive. Slide the bottom of your tissue paper to about half a centimeter from the votive’s base. Again, add a dot of Mod Podge where the tissue paper overlaps to secure it, and paint a layer of Mod Podge over the bottom end of the tissue paper to finish.

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

^Please pardon my left hand being in the strangest physical configuration possible here.^

Here’s what the finished luminaries look like from the top…

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

Gluing the paper on slightly in from the top and bottom edge of the votives makes the middle of the paper slits flare out for a cute lantern effect. Festive, right?

How-to: Lantern-style Votive Luminaries | Hands Occupied

Like this project? I originally wrote it for Mod Podge Rocks, a craft blog totally worth reading.

Filed Under: Decoupage, Fourth of July, How-to, My Work Elsewhere Tagged With: candles, craft, diy, easy, lanterns, luminaries, mod podge, patriotic, tissue paper, votives

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad (she/her) is a craft book author & designer specializing in yarn crafts. Her work combines vintage and modern design elements, prioritizing color and graphic motifs. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Comments

  1. Ananasa

    September 8, 2013 at 1:28 am

    Really simple and beautiful posting! We love your creativity

    Ananasa.com- Home For Handmade

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), and I’ve been helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010. I got my start here, as a blogger, and since then I’ve shared more than a few tutorials here and on YouTube as I’ve grown as a pattern designer. 🧶 

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Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts

handsoccupied

Knitting & yarn crafts designer 🧶
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Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop new patterns ⤵️

POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern fits with no ease vs. 4” of positive ease. There’s a bit more length to the cotton (brighter color) sample, but both are cropped and feature shoulder seams designed to sit an inch back onto the shoulder instead of on top, giving it a little swing. Length is easily adjustable for folks looking for less of a crop. 
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Pattern: Bevelled Tank by @handsoccupied for @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn summer 2024. Available for free from Hobbii at the 🔗 in my profile.
Yarn pictured: @kelbournewoolens Skipper and Camper. 
Dress form is adjusted to a 36” chest and ~5’3”ish in height. 
Human has a 40” chest and is 5’5”.
Both skirts are vintage.
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #handsoccupied #intarsia #handmade #knitting #colorwork
Let’s talk about fit and ease! . During the Beve Let’s talk about fit and ease!
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During the Bevelled Tank design process for @pompommag, I knit 2 samples using 2 different @KelbourneWoolens yarns. One was in Skipper (100% cotton, second photo) and the other was in Camper (100% 2 ply wool). The Skipper sample was knit for a 36” bust, which measures in at 40” with 4” of positive ease. And I knit the Camper Sample for my 40” bust with a 44” finished measurement. (BTW, I’m 5’5” for folks that find that measurement helpful in visualizing fit.)
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Based on the size chart for the Bevelled Tank, that means I knit one size 3 sample and one size 4. As designed, I conveniently fit a size 4 as intended with 4” of positive ease. When I wear the 3, there is no ease at all because the garment and my body are both 40” in size. Comparing the 2 garments, you can see how the fiber content (cotton vs. wool) and fit (no ease vs. 4” of positive ease) makes a difference in the look and feel of the finished garment. 
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These samples are a great way to compare what ease looks like on different bodies. While I can fit both a size 3 and 4, the garment with no ease feels more like pajamas or a bralette when I wear it. On the other hand, when I wear the one with 4” of positive ease, I feel comfortable enough to wear it to work, even as a crop top. Plus, it leaves me with enough room to layer it with a nice button down if I’m not feeling the cropped look one day. 
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I’m curious - how would you style this tank? Would you modify it with a few stockinette rows for added length? I’m so curious now that this pattern is finally out in the world. :) 
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #bevelledtank #handsoccupied #knitting #intarisa #handmade #kelbournewoolens #croppedsweater #summerknits
After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m ba After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m back with a brand new pattern in 9 sizes, and it’s FREE as part of @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn’s summer design collection! (Link is in my bio.)
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In my December newsletter, I announced that I was soliciting test knitters for a pattern that had originally been selected for the summer ’24 issue of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine. However, the magazine ceased publication after its spring ’24 issue, leaving in-progress designs unpublished. (It happens.) As a result, I’d begun the long process of editing, testing, and photographing the pattern for independent release through the Hands Occupied pattern shop and Ravelry.
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Before I was done with that process, Pom Pom Quarterly’s former editors reached out with an exciting proposal for the pattern. Post-magazine, they’ve begun to partner with yarn companies to produce high quality pattern collections. They wanted to include designs from the would-be current issue of Pom Pom Quarterly in a new collection for Hobbii yarn, including my Bevelled Tank. I worked with the same technical editors I would have for the magazine on this one, and as you can see from the photos, Pom Pom’s team did an amazing job of styling the garment to the beautiful standards they’re known for.
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You can learn more about the pattern on my blog and get the free pattern from Hobbii yarn - links to both in my profile. I’ll post sizing info in the comments for quick reference too. 🧶
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #knitting #intarsia #sponsored #colorworkknitting 
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Photos: @dianascarrunz 
Model: @angel.jade_
Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vi Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vintage knitting pattern from 1938 called the Fernlace Pullover. A pattern so nice, I knit it twice.
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Yellow version 💛: knit with Despondent Dyes’ Vintage Vixen Sport after attending a @squidneyknits vintage knitting retreat in 2019 & learning *so much*. Paired with a self-drafted circle skirt pattern. 
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Blue version 💙: knit with @eweeweyarns Ewe So Sporty in Sky Blue. Paired with the 1940s Boardwalk Duet sewing pattern from @decades_of_style 
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Head to my stories for 🔗🔗 to the handmade wardrobe blog posts I wrote about each take on the Fernlace Pullover, working with a vintage pattern, where to find vintage patterns (including the one I used), & some thoughts on sizing. 
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Image descriptions available in alt text. 
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#handsoccupied #handmadewardrobe #fernlacepullover #vintageknitting #vintageknittingpatterns #knitting_inspiration
Frogging is a word in the knitting world that mean Frogging is a word in the knitting world that means to rip out your knitting. It’s called frogging because frogs say “ribbit,” and when you’re tearing out your knitting, you will “rip it” out, and that sounds like ribbit. No really. 🐸 Did you know this fun fact? 
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P.S. I did like this design concept, but to make the pattern more knitter friendly as well as more wearable, I am making some tweaks to the construction. Excited to share when it’s ready! 🥰🧶
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Yarn: @blueskyfibers Woolstok North in Morning Frost & Highland Fleece 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #frogging #blueskyfibers #knittersofinstagram #blueskymakers #knittingvocabulary #bsfmakers #knitdesign
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