Glass Pumpkin Jack-o-Lanterns on Homemade Hay Bales

As part of the Make It: Fun Team, this post is sponsored in part by FloraCraft. As always, ALL photographs, ideas, and opinions are my own.
Mason Jar Glass Pumpkins Halloween Craft Idea

Don’t you just love this time of year? There is so much festive crafty fun to be had — and lots of fun ways to decorate your house inside and out for Halloween. This easy craft idea makes a great Halloween decor idea!

This is a spooky, spine-tingling tale of how the mason jar met a foam block who brought along his burlap friend to make the coolest glass pumpkin luminary in all the land.

glass pumpkin on homemade hay bales supplies

Hee-hee…

Seriously, this craft was actually my creative brainstorm captured here in our Creative Blog Talk series about creativity. It was so fun to see my sketch come to life!

Last year I made these cute mason jar candy corn luminaries, this year I wanted to try jack-o-lantern luminaries. I could have just tried using the jars right side up, but I wanted to use them upside-down making the bottom of the jar now the top of my pumpkins—and what better for them to sit on, but homemade hay bales!

Here is my complete supply list for this Halloween decor craft idea:

  • Quart-sized mason jars
  • Floracraft 7″ foam blocks
  • Brown Paper Crinkle (found in the gift wrap aisle)
  • FloraCraft Burlap Garland
  • FloraCraft Jute Twine
  • 3M Stryrofoam Spray adhesive
  • DecoArt Glass Stain in Orange
  • Americana 3D Opaque Gloss Enamel in Black
  • Americana 3D Gloss Enamel in Orange
  • FloraCraft Battery-operated LED Light Strand

First I needed to prep my foam block and glass jar. I pressed the top of the jars down onto the top of one side of my foam blocks to create a well or divot to hold my glass jar in place.

Glass Pumpkin Halloween Craft DIY with foam block

Then it was time to tint the jars orange and create a jack-o-lantern design on the front. I’ve hand-tinted jars before, like my shamrock and rainbow jars, but this time I wanted to add a jack-o-lantern face on the front and turn them into pumpkins.

How to Tint a Glass Mason Jar for Halloween
I used glass stain to color the inside of each of my glass jars. I squeezed some on the bottom of the jar and then let gravity do its work by swirling the color all along the inside. Then I let the excess drip out and sat if back upright to dry.

After about an hour drying outside, I drew on my jack-o-lantern face with the black 3D Opaque writer, and added orange stripes along the outside with the 3D Gloss Enamel paint for my glass pumpkin design. Then I let that design dry as well for another hour outside in the sun.

While the jars were drying, I made the hay bales.

Homemade Hay Bale Craft Tutorial

I sprayed the 4 outer sides of my cube with the 3M spray glue made especially for foam and the top along the edges outside of the jar circle I created in the first step. Then I pressed the crinkly paper all along the outsides and the top. I cut a length of my burlap to completely wrap around the outside of my cube, and secured it on with two strips of the twine on either side of my circle on the top. The crinkly paper under the burlap and the two twine ties give the perfect illusion of mini hay bales!

When my glass pumpkins were completely dry, and the glass stain and jack-o-lantern design was no longer tacky, it was time to put it all together.

Glass Pumpkin Mason Jar Luminary Craft

The battery-operated light strands were perfect to use on the inside of my jar. The wire that the LED lights are attached to give it just enough structure to stand up and fill the glass inside in a random fashion. I placed the lights in the middle, turned them on, and replaced my glass pumpkins back into the circle spot I had created on the top in the beginning.

Glass Pumpkin on Homemade Hay Bale Craft DIY

One last detail, I cut a wine cork in two and glued each portion on the top of my glass pumpkins.

These look so great next to our fireplace, but they would look just as great outside on the front porch.

Glass Jack-o-lantern Halloween craft idea

I love how they turned out!

Mason Jar Pumpkin Luminaries DIY

Enjoy!

pauline-sig

As part of the Make It: Fun Team, this post is sponsored in part by FloraCraft. As always, ALL photographs, ideas, and opinions are my own.

Pauline Molinari

I'm the crafty maven, and I'm on a mission to spread craftiness. With a fine arts degree, over 15 years experience in children's publishing, and a savvy, stylish, sassy tween daughter, I come armed with perspective and passion to inspire tween girls and their mothers to be crafty together. 

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  4 comments for “Glass Pumpkin Jack-o-Lanterns on Homemade Hay Bales

  1. JaneEllen
    September 25, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    I can sure see why you’d love this project, so easy and so darned cute. These are great and would look awesome outside on steps or a table maybe. I have an old bakers rack on front porch I could put them on, would look really festive. Nobody else in our neighborhood does any decorating for Fall, little for Christmas maybe but that’s it. I love to decorate inside house and front porch. Don’t do Halloween as no kids come here to trick or treat. It’s a very adult neighborhood.
    I do have some glass paint I’ll see if it’s still good to use. Need to get more clear glass jars. Have to go raid our glass recycle barrel. Really enjoyed this post as I do your blog, have fun with all your decorations. Happy weekend

  2. Sharon
    September 25, 2014 at 2:11 pm

    Very cute! And I love the addition of the light strand in those sweet pumpkin jars. They look great by your fireplace, too.

  3. Renee
    September 25, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    Those are so cute, I might use them for my girl scout troop.

  4. September 26, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    Those hay bales are the cutest!!

Comments are closed.