Brighten your Independence Day with these 4th of July mason jar lanterns! These patriotic red, white, and blue mason jars are SO EASY to make and you only need a few simple supplies.
Apply red, white, and blue acrylic paint to glass jars to create these super cute and patriotic candle holders! Then place them in a row to form an American flag. It’s such a fun summer craft for both kids and adults!
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DIY Mason Jar Lanterns for the 4th of July
Materials:
- 3 Mason jar(s)
- Acrylic paint (red, white, and blue)
Watch the step-by-step video tutorial:
Instructions:
Find what you need:
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Make a star patterned mason jar lantern:
- Use soap and water to clean your mason jar. You can also wipe the outside with rubbing alcohol.Then avoid touching the outside as much as you can. This will help the paint to adhere.
- Add star stickers to the outside of one jar.Place them randomly and push them down to make sure they’re completely adhered.
- Add blue acrylic paint to a small dish or deep paint palette. Dip a cotton ball into the paint – this will be your “paintbrush”!
- Dab the cotton ball with paint onto the sides of the jar. Cover the whole outside with paint, including the neck.Grab a new cotton ball if your “brush” starts to fall apart half way through.Add a second coat of paint, if necessary, and allow to dry.
- Once the paint is completely dry, use a craft knife to “trace” around the outside of a star sticker.This will help make sure the paint around the star doesn’t peel away when you remove the sticker.
- Gently peel the sticker away from the jar.You can use tweezers to make this easier, if you’d like.
- Repeat, removing the remaining stickers.
- Your star pattern mason jar lantern is complete!
Make striped mason jar lanterns:
- Begin by using a cotton ball to paint the whole outside of the jar white.Add a second coat (if necessary) and allow to dry.
- Once the paint is completely dry, use painter’s tape to create 2 horizontal stripes.Try to attach the pieces as straight as possible, and push the tape down with your finger as you go, making sure it’s completely flat on the glass.
- Use a cotton ball to add red paint over top of the white parts of the jar.
- Once the red paint is completely dry, carefully remove the painter’s tape.
- Your striped mason jar lantern is complete.Make a second mason jar with a stripe design to create a full flag look with your decorations.
Enjoy your flag themed mason jar lanterns:
- Your 4th of July mason jar lanterns are complete! Enjoy displaying them together at your holiday events.
Helpful Tips:
- If you don’t have star stickers you can also use self-adhesive foam stars, or cut your own star out of adhesive vinyl.
- These mason jar lanterns can be used as decorations all summer long! Set them out for Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, or any events in-between.
How can I use these 4th of July mason jar lanterns?
Use these patriotic mason jars to light up your party by placing a flameless tealight candle inside. You can also add a string of LED fairy lights, or even light a real votive or tealight candle.
If you don’t want to use these red, white, and blue mason jars as a lantern you can also use them as containers for cutlery and straws. They would look so cute sitting on a buffet table at a barbecue!
What’s the best paint for these 4th of July mason jars?
We used craft acrylic paint to create our mason jar lanterns. We needed to add 2 coats, and it worked well enough, but the paint can peel off fairly easily if you’re not careful when removing the stickers.
If you want to make a lantern that can be re-used next summer you can use chalk paint. It sticks really well to glass without peeling. Or you can also buy special glass paint or use spray paint for these decorated mason jars.
How else can I add the paint to these mason jar lanterns?
You can definitely use a regular paintbrush if you like – we just found that the brushstrokes were really visible through the mason jar when we put the flameless candles inside. To try to hide the brush strokes you can also use a foam brush (sponge brush) or an actual sponge to apply the paint on the jars.
We enjoyed using a cotton ball to dab paint onto the mason jars. It created a textured look without leaving brush strokes or streaks of paint on the jars. Plus there’s no paint brush to wash at the end!
Enjoy making these 4th of July mason jar lanterns inspired by the American flag! These festive and patriotic mason jars are such a fun summer decoration, perfect for decorating your Independence Day BBQ or picnic.
Here’s even more 4th of July party ideas:
Red, White, and Blue Layered Drink
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
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