Light-Up Jack O’ Lantern Jars for Cute Halloween Decor
Make adorable jack o’ lantern jars with tissue paper and Mod Podge! This beginner-friendly Halloween craft is perfect for glowing decor – no carving required.
Skills Required: Beginner. You will apply tissue paper to a jar using Mod Podge and cutting paper. It helps to have experience with decoupage medium, but that isn’t required. Kids or adults can do this project.
Can we all agree that jack o’ lanterns are one of the best parts of Halloween? But let’s be real – carving pumpkins gets messy fast. That’s why I’m obsessed with these DIY jack o’ lantern jars!
They’re super easy to make with Mod Podge and tissue paper, and they give off that same spooky glow without any of the gourd guts.
Imagine lining your walkway or adorning your dining room table with these glowing mason jars, each one twinkling with its own little light.
It’s a simple project: you’ll decoupage colorful tissue paper onto the jars, craft a cute pumpkin face, and top it off with a handmade witch hat. Sounds fun, right?
And if you’re thinking you might not be crafty enough to pull this off, don’t worry! I’ve got you covered with step-by-step instructions and even a free printable mini witch hat template to make everything as easy as pie (pumpkin pie, to be exact!).
Ready to make your own jack o’ lanterns? Let’s turn those old jars into Halloween decor.
Whether you light them up with battery-operated tea lights or just use them as decoration, these jack o’ lantern jar pumpkins are guaranteed to be a hit this Halloween season!
Gather These Supplies
- Mason jars
- Orange tissue paper
- Mod Podge (Glossy)
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Black cardstock – or color of your choice
- Hot glue
- Glue Dots
- LED tealights (optional)
Free Jack O’ Lantern & Hat Templates Here: Feel free to resize the templates as needed depending on the size of mason jar you are using.
Tips and Thoughts for This Project
You could use any color of tissue paper for this project – how about purple or green? For mine, I primarily used some of the bright orange but also added a few pieces of the darker orange.
These can hold candy, but if you put tealights in them, use LED. That way you can put the hats on with no risk of fire. They look so cute lit up!
Get the printable how to card below:
Jack O’ Lantern Mason Jars
Instructions
- Cut some small 1” x 1” squares from some sheets of tissue paper. I used a bright orange and a darker orange for some variety. To make it easier, fold your tissue paper a few times, cut a 1” strip and cut 1” squares from it.
- Using your brush, add a layer of Mod Podge onto the jar and begin laying out your tissue paper squares. Brush on a layer of Mod Podge on top of the tissue paper squares to secure it onto the mason jar. Repeat the whole process until you have covered the whole mason jar with tissue paper.
- Dry the mason jars upside down on top of some parchment paper or plastic to protect your work surface.
- Cut a pumpkin face (the one I used – two triangle eyes and a smiling mouth – template is provided if needed) and attach it to the mason jar using Mod Podge. You can also use different expressions for a custom look!
- Add a layer of Mod Podge over the pumpkin face details and leave that to dry as well.
- Cut out the paper witch hat template with a die-cutting machine, or you can trace and cut it onto a piece of black cardstock.
- Roll the triangle shape into a cone, and glue the flap under using hot glue. You may have to hold down the seam for a few moments until the hot glue dries to prevent it from unraveling.
- Fold the trapezoid shapes up on the inside of the brim, and glue those parts to the opening of the cone (make sure they are inside the cone so they are not visible).
- Now, all that’s left to do is put the witch hat on the mason jar! I used some glue dots to hold the witch hats in place as I had some remote-controlled battery tea lights, but you can forego this step,
If you enjoy this project, let me know in the comments. I’d also love for you to check out these other ideas:
Borax Crystal Skull • Cross Stitch Canvases • Felt Ball Garland • Halloween in a Jar • Lighted Pumpkin Topiary • Milk Jug Skeleton • Mesh Halloween Wreath • Pumpkin Terrarium • Shrunken Apple Heads • Skull Bean Art • Skulls Makeover • Spooky Apothecary Jars • Toilet Paper Pumpkins • Wine Cork Skeleton
