How to Make a Milk Jug Luminary

Are you looking for a simple, cute, homemade decoration for Halloween? Well, look no further than your own refrigerator! By using an empty gallon-sized plastic milk carton, you can create a festive luminary to add some light and whimsy to your outdoor decor. Here are the simple steps:

1. Prepare your milk carton. That’s as simple as rinsing your empty carton and leaving it to dry completely. Make sure you leave the lid off or it will become smelly. If you have children in the house, as I do, you probably go through one or two gallons of milk a week. I started saving my milk jugs several weeks before Halloween, and by the time the holiday rolled around, I was able to make eight luminaries. But if you don’t go through gallons of milk, empty one-gallon water containers will do just fine. And you don’t have to worry about lingering smells!

2. Decorate your luminary. You could use black acrylic paint, but I found the easiest and least-messy decorating tool to be a Sharpie marker. I made several “ghost luminaries” by drawing simple, spooky faces on my milk cartons (tip: keep the lid on to make a more firm drawing surface). The whitish color of the milk jugs lends itself perfectly to the ghost theme. But don’t limit your creativity! We drew popular video game characters (such one of the Angry Birds) and a spider on several of our luminaries. When the milk carton is illuminated, any black drawing stands out and makes a statement.

3. Make a hole for your lighting. You’ll want to make a smallish hole (perhaps three inches in diameter) in the back of the milk carton in which to insert your lighting. There’s not really an easy or neat way of doing this. You’ll need a sharp cutting tool and a little elbow grease. I had my husband take care of this part since I’m only good with knives in the kitchen!

4. Insert lights and display. You can use two different lighting methods for this craft. A long strand of small white or orange holiday lights can be inserted, a small bunch at a time, into luminaries lined up right next to each other. This is a fun way to have tiny lights scattered throughout the luminary. I chose to purchase flickering tea lights at my home improvement store. This is the easiest and most versatile way to light your luminaries, since the cartons can then be placed wherever you want, not right next to each other. The flickering glow creates the perfect Halloween ambiance!

Don’t, however, limit yourself to Halloween! A neighborhood in our community creates a luminary display each Christmas. They line their streets with unadorned, illuminated milk cartons. It’s a beautiful and simple complement to the bright and flashy decor of Christmas.

I’m not an especially crafty mom, but even I found this to be a fun, stress-free holiday craft. With milk jug luminaries, you can put a unique, homemade twist on your family’s holiday display without devoting much of your time or money.