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How-to: Tissue Paper Luminaries

October 22, 2010 2 Comments

The best thing about this project is that I learned to do this when I was a kid using a jelly jar and recycled tissue paper from birthday gifts. After I finished this project last weekend, I even called my mom asking if she remembered the project this is based on, and she still has it in our basement.

Despite the really beautiful results, the process is really simple. The supplies you’ll need are: tissue paper, a paint brush, a cup of water, school glue (Elmer’s), a vase or other glass jar (these are the vases I ordered), and some candles for filling your luminaries.

Mix your glue and water. About three parts water to one part glue is the right consistency. Cut your tissue paper in to the sort of pieces you’d like to see on your lantern. A mosaic pattern looks cool, but the stripes I used were nice too.

Lay out some newspaper or paper towel on your work surface. Lots of glue water will drip on to it while you work. Using the paintbrush, paint a small amount of the glue water where you want to place your piece of tissue paper. Lay your tissue paper piece on the glue-covered area, and then paint over the paper again to seal it and make it stick well. Be careful not to over-saturate your tissue paper; it will tear if you’re not careful.

A note about inevitable bubbles that appear when placing tissue paper: Putting the tissue paper on your glass piece is kind of like putting a bumper sticker on a car. It’s really easy to get air bubbles caught in it. After making 13 of these lanterns, I realized that there are two effective ways to get rid of them. The first, shown in the two left pictures above, involves gently pulling the edges of the tissue paper to smooth out the wrinkles with your hands. To be honest, I ended up ripping a lot of the pieces I was trying to smooth when I did this.

A better technique is using the paintbrush on your second pass over the tissue paper to smooth out wrinkles. Just keep brushing from end to end over your tissue paper, and that takes care of it. You ultimately don’t have to worry about small wrinkles because, as you can see when comparing the right-hand picture above with the finished product below, everything smooths out as the lanterns dry.

The last step, of course, is adding and lighting your candles once your lanterns are dry. Tea lights work ok, but I think I’m going to invest in three-inch candles for the wedding, as they’ll be burning all night.

Filed Under: DIY Wedding, How-to Tagged With: candle, centerpiece, elmer's glue, heidedwed, luminaries, tissue paper, vase, wedding

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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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), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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handsoccupied

Craft book author & pattern designer ❤️💛💙
knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé
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Please email for pattern support. 🧶

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
When you have four big skeins of pretty 2 ply yarn When you have four big skeins of pretty 2 ply yarn, you immediately think sweater, right? 
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My wardrobe could use another handmade sweater - I’m thinking something simple, seamed and with a decent amount of ease for potentially wearing tucked in with jeans or skirts. 🤔 
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Yarn: @universal_yarn Fibra Natura Cobblestone in Antarctica and Dragon’s Breath, wound in thick skeins of 100% superwash wool that’s a light DK weight.
How to to knit throwing (a.k.a. English) style . How to to knit throwing (a.k.a. English) style 
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In knitting, there are a few common knitting styles. Most often you’re going to encounter continental style and English (throwing) style on your knitting journey. I recently had an old video teaching continental style get a lot of views. Based on the comments, it was clear the people wanted to also see a throwing tutorial, so here you go! 🧶
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Please note that there is a LOT of variation in knitting styles, and one isn’t necessarily better than another. Most often, I’ve found it comes down to two things: how you were taught and whether or not you’re really into colorwork knitting (which can involve a mix of styles). 
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Longer-term knitters who’ve made it this far: do you prefer one over the other? And why? 
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#handsoccupied #englishknitting #learntoknit #knitting #howtoknit #knittersofinstagram #knitting_inspiration
How to do a one-step provisional knitting cast on How to do a one-step provisional knitting cast on / a.k.a. crochet provisional cast on, scrap yarn cast on
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I read recently that tiktok and Instagram are being used as search engines more and more. 🤔 I thought since I’m going to all the work of making tutorials on YouTube, I should experiment with making a quick version of them for other platforms. There are obvious teaching limitations to vertical video, short-form content like this, but I think I covered the gist of this cast on in a minute. The YouTube version also covers how to unzip this cast on because there was time for it 👍🏻 L1nk is in my profile. 
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I’m very much looking for feedback as I continue to make instructional knitting & craft videos. Sometimes good tutorials are hard to find, and (ideally polite) feedback helps me improve. 
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#handsoccupied #provisionalcaston #knitting #knititngtutorial #knittersofinstagram #crochethook #knittingtutorial
For the first time in a long time, there’s a new For the first time in a long time, there’s a new tutorial from Hands Occupied! 🎉 The video is live on YouTube & the blog. 
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The post covers what provisional cast ons are & how they differ, and the video covers how to work a one-step provisional cast on using scrap yarn and a crochet hook. (This is a great one to save for future reference.)
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I learned several names for this method while researching this video & post. Crochet provisional cast on, one-step cast on, scrap yarn cast on - if you know even more names for this technique, please share! 
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#handsoccupied #provisionalcaston #knitting #scrapyarn #crochethook
Working on a sample for some upcoming videos. It’s an overcast day with intermittent sunshine & I have a scruffy little sidecar. 🐶 Can’t complain! 
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What’s on your needles this week? 
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Yarn: @debbieblissknits Cashmerino Aran 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #knittinglife
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