Halloween paper lanterns DIY

It's almost here ~ one more week to Halloween! I love Halloween as a child, it was so much fun and perfect autumn weather. My mother would always have a project to make, be it a scarecrow or ghosts to hang from branches. Not only was decorating fun but deciding on a costume was too. We'd plan and often make our own - my mother would do our costume makeup.
I wanted to make a easy DIY project for either Halloween or autumn. It require minimal supplies and can be done in less then 30 minutes. I decided paper bag lanterns would be a fun, easy project!
What you will need for this project:
- an assortment of paper bags
- pen or marker
- scissors
- spray paint or spray glitter, color of your choice
- battery operated candles (I would advise against using actual candles inside paper bags)

To start: Pick any bag you please, I have this medium sized one collecting dust. Use your pen or marker and design any face you like. Remember, you are going to cut out the shapes, so you might want them thick. I just used scissors to cut my face out, poke the scissor gently into a shape - then cut around your outline.

design your bag using pen or marker

I made two bags, one medium one large. You could even use the small lunch sized bags too! Once you have the bags cut, bring them outside. Now, for this step I used spray glitter in orange. It is very messy, so I used dish washing gloves and laid plastic down. Spray the exterior of the bag in enough spray paint or glitter to cover any design printed on the bag. 

bring it outdoors to spray it with paint or glitter

It shouldn't take long for the project to air dry outdoors. Once it was dry, I cut points or triangle shapes, at the top of my bags. If you aren't going for a jack o' lantern design, you could also do autumn themes. Ideas I have in mind are: initials, house number, leafs, trees, gourds, almost anything you fancy. If you search online you will certainly find an array of design t pick from.

finished paper lantern

Use battery operated candles for safety, place a few inside the lantern. Here are a few pictures of my lit paper lanterns. I can't wait to put them outside for Halloween night! 

finished lantern bags

I also had a chance to go to a costume party this month. I think I had too many sweet treats, I swear I felt myself fall into a sugar coma that night. It was so much fun and I designed my costume after watching a tutorial online. I decided on a Fawn with a head piece crown I made from craft supplies (I added antlers and felt ears). Here is the link to the fun makeup I used by FreshBlush on you tube. Here are pictures of what I wore with it, which I had in my closet already.

my fawn head piece, with moss and felt ears I added

my fawn costume

Have a safe & happy Halloween!