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Hands Occupied

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

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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, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. 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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Helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010
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Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts
How to convert a closet into WIPs storage with jus How to convert a closet into WIPs storage with just a few supplies ✂️
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When I was a librarian, we would use these hanging bags to circulate books with audiobook CDs. They came to mind when I wanted to develop a filing cabinet-like system for my differently-sized WIPs. To fit in my studio closet, a standard bedroom closet, they just needed custom hangers. 🤙🏻 
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HOW TO MAKE THE HANGERS
1. Carefully cut approx. a 9” (23 cm) length of flexible 3 mm aluminum wire.
2. Near the end of a large knitting needle or dowel, wrap the wire around it as you would a twist tie. 
3. Bend the other end into a hook shape, perpendicular to the circle shape you just created. 
4. Hang like a hanger in a closet, as shown. 
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Check out the full review & enter the giveaway at the link in my bio. 
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To learn more about lifted increases, including when to use them and how they differ from Make 1s, head to the 🔗 in my profle. 
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