Teacandle Lights

These are so easy to make and you can recycle just about any glass jar/bottle. Small baby food jars look great but if you have any unusual shaped bottles they reflect the light in a fantastic way and are a winner with everyone.

Frosted Summer Luminettes : “Moonlighting Luminettes”
Looking for a fun way to recycle baby food jars and various jars into creative
ways? Let the summer nights glow with easy to make glass jar luminettes
using frosted glass paint. Patterns are created with paper stickers, painter's
tape, and adorned with decorative wire to illuminate your patio, or deck. A
perfect summer green craft to do with the kids!

Hands-on time: Under 2 hours

Total time: paint dries and becomes frosted once dry , plus 24 hours curing time, 35 baking in oven to set the paints

Skill: Easy, kid friendly projects, idea for day camps, vacation times.

Cost estimate: Cost of materials to do luminettes under $12.00

Materials & tools:
- Small or medium size baby food jars, or jam jars
- Vinegar and lint free cloth, paper towels
- Painter’s tape in assorted widths, pencil and scissors
- X-acto knife or craft knife
- Assorted self adhesive stickers, circles, stars, flowers (office supply stores)
- Vitrea 160 Frosted glass paint (by Pébéo) water-based paints, I mixed silver
acrylic paint mixed with the white to create a silver frosted colour
-Sponge (a regular household sponge will do, you can also use a clean one
that is ready to be discarded)
- Ruler
- Colour wire, clippers or pliers
- Cotton swabs
- Votive or tea candles

(Materials are available at art and crafts supply stores)

Clean glass jars thoroughly to remove labels, and wipe dry. If the labels are hard to remove soak the jars in warm water and soap for about half an hour. For stubborn sticky residue on the jars, apply a little vinegar or rubbing alcohol and wipe off with a paper towel.

Use a variety of assorted self adhesive stickers like circles, dots, stars and so on to create cool patterns by applying them to the clean glass jars. You can also cut narrow painter's tape in lengths to fit around the glass jar for stripes, or draw your own designs on larger width tape, cut out with a craft knife and apply around the surface of the jars.

Cover your work surface with newspaper and prepare your materials and glass items to be painted. Vitrea 160 paints are water-based and non-toxic, they can be used on food consumption items such as glasses, plates, mugs serving tray as well.

Place some frosted glass paint in a paint tray, I did some in blue, green and orange frosted paints. To achieve a silver frosted paint I combined regular acrylic paint with the white frosted paint. Dip the sponge, dab it to remove excess paint and apply the paint all around the jars. This is easy and fun for kids to do, plus sponging on the paint will give the painted items a textured look. Once completed, place the painted glass jars upside-down onto newspaper to let them dry, approximately one hour.

After one hour and before the jars are completely dry, use the tip of a craft knife or pin to help peel off the stickers and painter's tape. If some bleeding occurred along the edges of some of the designs, it can be simply wiped off gently with a damp cloth. To remove any adhesive left by the stickers, use a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol.

Clean the paint tray and sponges with easy soap and water clean-up. Let the frost paint finish dry and cure for at least 24 hours before heat-setting. As the paint dries you will see the frost effect become visible and the shapes pop out!

Once baked, the colours and items are fully cured. Remove the glass items from the oven using oven mitts, and let them cool before handling.

Once cured and heat set in any domestic oven, the glass items are scratch resistant and dishwasher- and-oven-safe. Place the painted glass items in a cold oven and when the temperature of the oven has reached 325 degrees F (160 degrees C), bake for 40 minutes.

Cut decorative wire to desired lengths, and wrap it around the neck of each jar, making a loop at each side, then attach a handle also with loops. Or you can cut a longer piece of wire to connect all the jars together, to string them onto branches, trees, around the deck, patio, and porch or even on a fence.

Place a votive or tea light candle at the bottom of the jars and enjoy silvery moonlit nights!

Tips: Applying a piece of double faced tape or sticky-tack at the bottom of the candles will secure them into place and keep them centered in the jars.