Day 9 of the 24 Days of Christmas Crafting!
The goal for these 24 days is to give you ideas for hand-crafted Christmas decorations for your tree and home. Come back each day to try the next craft. 24 Days of Christmas Crafting!
Before I bought my Cricut, before I was even thinking about doing this 24 Days of Christmas Crafting, I knew I wanted to make little paper luminaries that wrap around LED tea lights for Christmas decorating. I got the idea from a gift I received a few years ago. A friend of mine did something similar but she decorated paper with henna and wrapped the papers around tea lights. I wanted to do the same but with cutouts in the paper.
I had planned to hand cut a couple of designs from vellum and leave it at that. But, with the Cricut, I can cut as many as I can design! In this project I was able to fit 5 designs on a single sheet of vellum.
Let’s get started!
Materials and Supplies
(This post contains affiliate links to some of the items I used in this project. It just means that you will help to support my blog if you make a purchase after clicking the links. There is no added cost to you!)
This project will make 5 decorated luminaries. To make them you will need the following:
- 1 sheet of 8-1/2″ x 11″ vellum
- Pattern (available in my Resource Library)
- Clear Glue
- 5 LED Tea Lights
After checking my paper stash I found I was out of vellum and did not find anything in the stores that was what I wanted. I went online and found this Vellum Variety Pack in 25 colors! I was amazed at all the colors. And, I found the perfect color for these luminaries. It is a pearlescent gold. These are going to be so pretty!
Cutting the Luminaries
NOTE: My LED tea lights have a circumference of 4.5″ The width of my design is 4.75″ so there will be an overlap for gluing. If your tea lights are larger or smaller, adjust the design accordingly.
If you are cutting by hand, print the pattern then trace lightly with a pencil onto the vellum. Carefully cut with an X-Acto type of knife.
If you are cutting with a craft machine, upload the .SVG into your design space. I am not familiar with other craft machines but I know that the Cricut has a setting for vellum when you are selecting the material. Use a light-grip mat (or an old not-so-sticky mat). Vellum can be a bit fragile.
Assembly
After the vellum is cut, carefully remove from your mat.
Vellum is more “crisp” than regular paper and can tear easily. I actually tore one section of my design. Never fear, I show you how to repair it!
To repair t tear, you will need clear tape, an X-Acto style of knife and a cutting surface (I use tempered glass). This technique is exactly the same that I use to repair torn stencils.
Put a small piece of tape on the back side of the paper. Use your cutting knife to cut the tape along the already-cut opening. I have a short video that shows how I fixed this tear.
Now you are ready to put these together.
Wrap the luminary papers around the tealights and glue one vertical edge of the vellum to the other edge of the vellum it overlaps.
Hold in place until the glue sets. Repeat for the other luminaries.
Once the glue has dried, you have a set of decorative luminaries to add to the holiday decor.
Come back each day for a new project in the 24 Days of Christmas Crafting!
You can get the pattern to this and all my DIY and craft projects in my Resource Library by filling out this form.
Remember to pin this to your favorite holiday crafting board on Pinterest!
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