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How to make simple brown paper bag lanterns, perfect for winter crafting. This easy paper craft will cozy up any space during winter.

Winter Paper Bag Lanterns

Here in Minnesota, winter brings long, cold winter nights, and I’ll do just about anything to make my home feel a bit more cozy. Lanterns and luminaries are a perfect way to do this. You can make your own luminaries with supplies that you can probably already find in your kitchen cupboards.

Related: Brown paper bags are good for more than just sack lunches. They also make great planter bags for your indoor house plants of spring arrangements.

So get crafty and whip up this fun and easy winter craft. Feel free to get creative with the patterns of your hole punches or the size of your luminaries. You can make them as small as a tea light, or as large as any candle that fits inside a brown bag.

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Tutorial: How to Make Winter Paper Bag Lanterns

1. Lay a paper bag flat on your work surface.  Cut the bag into three sections- trim off the top inch, then another 4 inches (depending on the height of your small glass jar), and leave the bottom section.
2. Save the middle section of the bag – make sure it is tall enough to cover your small glass jar. Then cut the paper bag along the seam, so that you have a long strip of brown paper to work with.
3. Cut the length of the paper down to size, about 1 inch longer than the diameter of your glass jar.
4. Using your scalloped scissors, trim one long edge of the brown paper. Then punch holes with the mini hole punch. Concentrate the majority of punched holes closest to the scalloped edge. Space the mini hole punches more sporadically towards the other long end of the paper.
5. Wrap the piece of brown paper around the glass jar, and secure with double-sided tape.
6. Light a tea light inside the glass jar. I prefer to use electric tea lights – safety first!
7. If you have a large electric candle, you can use the bottom of the brown paper bag itself, then scallop and hole punch like the other luminaries.

Didn’t these paper bag lanterns turn out great? I love the addition to my winter bedroom decor.

This craft first appeared over at Princess Pinky Girl where I’m a contributor.

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Paper Bag Winter Luminaries

Yield: 3 Luminaries

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Difficulty: easy

Estimated Cost: $10

How to make simple brown paper bag lanterns, perfect for winter crafting. This easy paper craft will cozy up any space during winter.

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Materials

• Brown paper bags – like for your school lunches
• Scissors
• Scalloped craft scissors
• Small hole punch
• Double-sided tape
• Various small glass jars or tin cans, washed and dried
• Tea light candles (or electric votive candles)

Instructions

1. Lay a paper bag flat on your work surface. Cut the bag into three sections- trim off the top inch, then another 4 inches (depending on the height of your small glass jar), and leave the bottom section.
2. Save the middle section of the bag – make sure it is tall enough to cover your small glass jar. Then cut the paper bag along the seam, so that you have a long strip of brown paper to work with.
3. Cut the length of the paper down to size, about 1 inch longer than the diameter of your glass jar.
4. Using your scalloped scissors, trim one long edge of the brown paper. Then punch holes with the mini hole punch. Concentrate the majority of punched holes closest to the scalloped edge. Space the mini hole punches more sporadically towards the other long end of the paper.
5. Wrap the piece of brown paper around the glass jar, and secure with double-sided tape.
6. Light a tea light inside the glass jar. I prefer to use electric tea lights – safety first!
7. If you have a large electric candle, you can use the bottom of the brown paper bag itself, then scallop and hole punch like the other luminaries.