Welcome to the newest series on the CEHS news: Caroline’s Craft Corner. The first project is a DIY lantern called an Autumn Leaf Luminary. They are super cheap to make and are an easy way to light up your front porch or an interior space during the fall season.

Materials:

• A brown paper bag
• Leafs of any type
• Wax paper
• Scissors
• Liquid glue or tacky glue
• A  battery operated tea light candle                   

Steps:

1. First gather enough wax paper to fit around the inside of the bag. You can measure it by rolling it out and wrapping it around the outside of the bag. The size of the outside will roughly match the size of the inside.
2. Now using your cut length of wax paper and your chosen leafs, set the leafs out onto the paper however you like.
3. Next using your glue, glue them onto the wax paper and let dry.
4. Once the leaves have successfully dried onto the paper, take the sheet and carefully fold it into the inside of the bag. This can be a little tricky, but make sure to fit it so that the leaves are  flat against the sides of the bag, not just open faced to the interior of the sack.

* Think of step four as like a sandwich, with the leaves in between the sack and wax paper.

To insure your lantern does not blow away or tip over, consider filling the bottom with sand, which will help keep it grounded and steady. Once you have completed all four steps, you can now utilize your festive fall lantern to light your autumn evenings.