Kids Crafts: Halloween Luminaries (Toddler Edition)

Supplies:

upcycled mason jars
paint (as many colors as you like)
paint brushes
tea lights
standard printable mailing labels
pencil
scissors
spooky designs (you can freehand, or find images online to print and trace; choose skeletons, witches, ghosts, goblins, and/or jack-o-lanterns)

Instructions:

Step 1: Using your pencil, draw your spooky designs on to the mailing labels.

Step 2: Once you’re happy with your shapes, cut them out, peel off the backing, and apply the stickers to your mason jar. Press down firmly and smooth out any air bubbles.

Step 3: Here comes the part your little one will adore! Hand over the mason jars and let your toddler go to town with the paint. (My 2 year old loved this project so much that we’ve repeated it four times in the last week! ) Be sure to instruct you child not to paint on the inside of the jars if you want your shapes to glow properly.

Step 4: Once your child is through painting, your jars should look like this:

Step 5: Just like painting a room in your house, this craft works best if you peel of the stickers before the paint completely dries.

Step 6: Add a tea light to each jar, and you’re done! You’ll see a solid glow from the sides of the jar that didn’t have stickers applied to them and fun Halloween shapes everywhere else!

Want more DIY Halloween Crafts?

Stephanie Morgan blogs at Modern Parent Messy Kids.

Stephanie Morgan is a Seattleite and mother of two under the age of three. She’s the founder of a lifestyle and design blog, Modern Parents Messy Kids, out to prove stylish parents and active kids can successfully coexist. In her former life she was a Doctor of Audiology and worked with pediatric patients. She now spends her days racking her brain and scouring the internet for simple ways to connect with her kids. She gravitates towards anything that’s accessible to all parents (including the crafting-impaired), fosters development, and has a bit of a modern edge.