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!
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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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Video Tutorial:
Step by Step Printable Photo Tutorial:
DIY Halloween Ghost Luminary Bags Decoration
Make your own Halloween ghost and monster luminary bags in minutes with this simple tutorial!
Materials
- 25 (or however you need) white paper lunch bags
- Permanent marker
- Battery operated tealight candles
Instructions
- Begin by gathering your supplies together and deciding how many luminary bags you will want to create;
- 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;
- Repeat this process for as many bags as are needed to light your room or pathway;
- Once the bags are all designed, you will open each of them and drop a battery-operated tealight candle in the bottom;
- Use them to light stairs, walkways, or even as a simple front porch decoration on Halloween;
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My favorite Etsy Halloween decorations.
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