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Home » Decorating » DIY Halloween Ghost Luminary Bags Decoration

DIY Halloween Ghost Luminary Bags Decoration

September 29, 2019 By Katie Hale Leave a Comment

How to make luminary bags into fun Halloween ghost decorations

This tutorial on how to make Halloween ghost luminary bags is a perfect way to create that last-minute decoration for your yard. Luminaries are tons of fun to make and are a wonderfully inexpensive way to add light to your walkway. Paper bags, markers, and candles are all you need to create this perfect way to light the path for trick or treaters this year.

Want a more durable lantern for your path? Check out this idea for DIY tin can lanterns to light your way!

How to make luminary bags into fun Halloween ghost decorations

Table of Contents

  • Halloween Ghost Luminary Bags
  • What is the Best Candle to use for Luminary bags?
  • Where do I Find White Paper Lunch Bags?
  • Supplies for Making Luminary Bags
  • How to make Halloween ghost luminary bags
  • Video Tutorial:
  • Step by Step Printable Photo Tutorial:

Halloween Ghost Luminary Bags

Luminary bags are one of the first fun crafts I ever made as a child in grade school. They were a part of every holiday event and carnival. Often, we loaded paper bags with sand in the bottom for the teachers and adults to place a candle in at a later time. Making luminaries became something I would later take with me into adulthood to share with my children, but now I make sure to use a battery-operated candle for safety.

This idea for Halloween ghost luminaries is a perfect way to add a fun but functional light to your doorstep or path on Halloween night. Nobody likes leaving those bright outdoor lights on for hours, but you still need a safely lit path for kids. These luminaries are a perfect choice! Plus, this method is so much safer than the ones of the old days.

This list of garden light ideas is another great resource if you have a larger area to light on those cool fall evenings.

Halloween ghost luminary bags showcased on stairs in the dark

What is the Best Candle to use for Luminary bags?

You can use a traditional candle sitting in the sand in a luminary bag, but that just isn’t very safe. Too often the bags catch on fire and you have injuries. For safety, I recommend shopping at your local dollar store for several of the battery-operated tealight candles.

In that case, all you have to do is switch a button on, and drop the candle into the bag. You have hours of light with no worries about your luminary catching on fire if someone bumps into it on your walkway.

Check out my photo luminary tutorial for another fun way to use those battery-operated candles you have extra of after Halloween.

Candle used in a halloween luminary bags craft

Where do I Find White Paper Lunch Bags?

While it is easy to find paper lunch bags at most markets or grocery stores, it is harder to find white paper bags. I found that the local Dollar Tree store in my area carries them in a multitude of colors, including white. If you can’t find them in a local store, you may want to check on Amazon for white paper bags or order online at the Dollar Tree website in bulk amounts.

Supplies for Making Luminary Bags

  • Battery operated tealight candles
  • Permanent marker
  • White paper lunch bags
  • Optional: sand

Supplies for halloween monster luminary bags

How to make Halloween ghost luminary bags

To begin, you will gather your supplies and have them ready at your work station. For this project, I prefer doing an assembly line method since I plan to make several at one time.

Creating a face on a luminary bag for Halloween

Decide how many luminary bags you need, and count out that many of the white paper bags.

Next, you will begin using the permanent marker to draw ghost faces on one side of each bag. Make sure to place a cloth, paper, or piece of cardboard inside the bag as you draw so the ink doesn’t bleed through to the other side.

A smiling face being drawn onto a luminary bag for Halloween

You can check out this list of free Halloween printables and coloring pages for inspiration on how to draw the faces.

Once you have all of your bags ready and faces drawn, you will open them up and add a battery operated tealight candle.

Halloween ghost faces luminary bags stacked on a shelf in a dark room

Video Tutorial:

 

Step by Step Printable Photo Tutorial:

Yield: 25

DIY Halloween Ghost Luminary Bags Decoration

A trio of halloween ghost luminary bags lit and sitting in front of a blue background

Make your own Halloween ghost and monster luminary bags in minutes with this simple tutorial!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $3

Materials

  • 25 (or however you need) white paper lunch bags
  • Permanent marker
  • Battery operated tealight candles

Instructions

  1. Begin by gathering your supplies together and deciding how many luminary bags you will want to create; Supplies for halloween monster luminary bags
  2. Once you have supplies together, you will slip a piece of cardboard, newspaper, or cloth inside your first bag and begin drawing a scary or fun ghost face onto one side of the bag; A smiling face being drawn onto a luminary bag for Halloween
  3. Repeat this process for as many bags as are needed to light your room or pathway; A woman holding a completed luminary bag with ghost face
  4. Once the bags are all designed, you will open each of them and drop a battery-operated tealight candle in the bottom; Two luminary bags decorated as ghosts sitting in a darkened area
  5. Use them to light stairs, walkways, or even as a simple front porch decoration on Halloween; Luminary bags decorated as ghosts sitting on a round wooden plate in front of a blue background Luminaries lighting a walkway

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© Vanessa Beaty
Project Type: Decorating / Category: Halloween
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