Christmas Countdown: Day 10 - Luminaries!

I love luminaries. I hadn't really had much "experience" with them before meeting my husband, but I came to appreciate their simple beauty quickly once he started telling me about the Christmas he spent with his parents in Yuma, Arizona. His parents had sold up here in Canada and were wintering in Arizona. Arizona, I've been told, doesn't have snow like we do. For me, this would seem contrary to Christmas, however non-snow places have adapted! One of the things my husband reminisces about the luminaries is how they lit up the park where his parents lived. Luminary comes from the French and refers to a celestial body of light. It seems fitting to think of the little paper bags illuminated with flickering lights!

I have a cat. How is my cat related to luminaries? Well, technically, she isn't but she taught us long, long ago that we could not have candles anywhere in the house. With her penchant to knock things over, I knew we could never have "real" luminaries in our house... But, my friends, I have finally figured out a practical use for those silly "flameless" candles! I picked up a package of 10 flameless candles a few weeks ago for about $8! Add a bag of plain paper craft bags, a piece of scrapbook paper, rice and a fancy paper punch and I was in business! The bags I bought were a little tall, so I cut about 2" off the top. I used a craft knife to cut out the shapes from the scrapbook paper and I punched out six snowflakes with my craft punch (bought on sale for 40% less AND an additional 20% off coupon). I adhered the cutouts with double sided tape, opened the bag and poured in about a 1/2 cup of rice (for weight). Dropped in my candle and voila!

I made six of them and TroubleMaker made one. They light the stairwell to our main floor and look so pretty! I am very pleased with how well they turned out and just how incredibly simple and elegant they are. I love the idea of doing a bunch for outside but given I live in a North-Central Alberta, I'm not sure my little paper luminaries would withstand the typical Alberta winter. Until such a time that we can winter in the Southern United States, I think our stairwell is just the perfect home!

Thank you for sharing Day 10 with me - tomorrow, I'm excited to be hosting my first guest post! Please come back and get some ideas for personal and simple Christmas gifts! Tis the season for Link Parties so I'm sharing!