All you need for this simple lantern is an empty glass jar, some tissue paper, and some PVA glue. Oh, and lots of imagination. Whether you choose to make the sunset version here with silhouettes of the scarecrow and the circling crows, or a sunnier daylight version where the scarecrow is carefully coloured in to reflect the latest in scarecrow fashion, these are a great way to upcycle bits and pieces you have to hand.
You can either use these as lanterns with electric tealights, or as vases for simple posies from the garden – or maybe even for some of the Funky Flowers you can make in another of our how-tos. Don’t forget to share pictures of your makes with us on social media with the hashtag #kettlewellscarecrow – we’d love to see how you get on!
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Make your own scarecrow lantern
A variation on the more familiar Halloween jar lanterns, this can be as minimalist or as detailed as you like. Clumps of spiky black grass at the base of the jar, tree silhouettes, even a cheeky bird perched on the scarecrow's shoulder? All up to your imagination 🙂
Materials
- Old jam/coffee jar, cleaned
- Tissue paper in red, orange and yellow (you will need roughly ¼ of a sheet in each colour)
- PVA glue
- Black paper
Tools
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
Instructions
- Tear up your tissue paper into small pieces.
- Using your glue and paintbrush, put on a section of glue at a time, then stick your tissue paper on, randomly or in a pattern.
- It does not matter if you put on too much glue, as it helps to stick and seal the tissue paper but do be careful not to break the paper.
- When the glass jar is all covered, add another layer of glue to make sure it is all sealed.
- Using your black paper, draw and cut out a small scarecrow,
add crows too if you like. (If you do not have black paper then you could use
white paper and colour it black with a pen.) - Stick your scarecrow to the jar and leave to completely dry. It might take a while if the glue is very thick. You could put a battery operated tea light to make your design really stand out.
Notes
Don't forget to add an electric tealight to make your jars into a safe lantern or nightlight. You can also experiment with "daylight' options using grass and sky colours, then drawing and colouring a scarecrow that can be seen in all their daytime glory to complement the sunset one.
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