DIY Corner: Shabby Chic Luminaries

So I got a wild hair and decided to do some DIY Christmas decorations for outdoors. I had some leftover mason jars from a previous post, so I decided to get a second life out of them.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Flocking, Santa snow, that powdery crap you put in your windows to make them look icy- either way you put it, you’ll need a can of it.

2. Paper, could be copy paper could be scrap paper. Either way, you’ll need it.

3. A pair of scissors. All I could find were my daughters scissors from last year.

4. Lash glue or any other kind of adhesive.

5. Mason jars of any size or shape.

6. Battery operated tealights. (not shown)

Step One: Cut your best snowflakes and unfold them. Using a light amount of lash glue, glue on the edges and in the middle. Don’t use a ton, because then it will smear out and look gross.

Step Two: Lay your snowflakes on the mason jars the way you want them to lay.

Step Three: Using a LOT of newspaper to cover your work surface and background, and holding the can of flocking at least 10 inches away from the jar. If not you’ll have a big globby mess of flocking like I do in the middle of the snowflake.

Step Four: Then CAREFULLY remove the snowflakes from the jars while the flocking is still wet.

You’ll want to let your luminaries sit out for at least a day or so to become completely dry and when you do decide to pick them up and move them be VERY careful as they will flake off.

When you have them where you want them, insert the battery operated tea lights and voila! Cheap and cute DIY luminaries!

Here they are paired with my “shabby chic” Christmas tree on my front porch. I put a couple of my prop suitcases in the corner, put the tree on it and covered the base with a gorgeous, but falling apart lace table cloth. Next to the suitcases are some old, faded, vintage Christmas ornaments in glass vases. I bought a couple of old Christmas ties at a flea market and cut them up to make bows for the Christmas tree and used lace as the “garland”. The most expensive part of the setup is the Merry Christmas banner, but I reused it from my Christmas minis from last year. Pretty darned cute, if I do say so myself.

And I used the flocking to put a little “frosting” on our front door (notice the streak marks left by my dear, sweet daughter. *grumbles*).

Such a cute and inexpensive way to decorate. And when you’re done with them, you can simply wipe off the flocking and store for next year!

A certain prop makes all the difference in the world

As a portrait photographer, I'm constantly on the lookout for new props. Sometimes they're expensive, gorgeous, unobtainable beauties.

Others are cheap, easy to find or easy to make.

I love anything shabby chic. Anything rustic or old.

So I came up with these

All I used to make this was an old mason jar, some twine, rock salt and a battery operated tea light candle. Just wrap the twine snugly around the mason jar lip and tie a "handle" to it. Fill the jar with rock salt and put a candle in it. Voila. Instant hanging candle holder.

I'm currently on the lookout for different colored mason jars to make even more of these beauties. Once the weather warms up I'm going to take my girly out and have a little twilight session so we can actually get some great shots. These worked out well, but I think they'd be better if it were darker.

At my engagement session this last weekend I used some mug hooks to hang them in the entry way here. Looked fabulous.

Not too shabby, eh?

Completely unrelated, but never-the-less gorgeous... Another shot from my engagement session. I love the bright pops of red and blue. *sigh*