Tu B’Shevat Tissue Paper Luminaries Craft

Celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish new year for the trees, with fun tea light holders that are so simple to make, you can whip up a whole orchard for your holiday table !! Tu B'Shevat celebrations include a festive meal where an array of fresh and dried fruits are eaten. Kids can help make this day even more special with some fun tissue paper collage on recycled jars that depicts citrus fruits in the orchard, and adding a few animals and characters brings the cuteness up a notch, don't you think? So soak the labels off those jars you've been saving, get out the tissue paper, and let the fun begin! And of course these jars will also look great for the Jewish holiday of Shavuous, or add some colorful ribbons and glitter and use them again for Purim!

Supplies:

• recycled glass jars in several sizes
• tissue paper: green, yellow, orange
• mod podge or diluted white glue
• scissors and a paint brush
• LED tea lights

 How To:

1. Remove labels from jars by soaking for several hours in warm soapy water. An adult can pour boiling water over the labels to speed up the process. After label is removed, any glue residue can be removed by coating the area with oil, letting it sit for 15 minutes and then scrubbing with steel wool or a course dish washing sponge.
   
2. Fold strips of tissue paper into small rectangles and then cut out leaf and fruit shapes from the folded pieces, resulting in stacks of leaves and fruit.
3. Using a brush, apply white glue slightly diluted with water (or mod podge) to a small area of the jar, carefully place leaf shapes onto area covered with glue, and gently burnish the shapes with your brush to adhere to the jar.
4. After covering the jar with as many overlapping leaves as you would like, adhere the fruit in the same manner.
5. Set aside to dry, roughly 1 hour. Coat the entire jar with a layer of glue to form a protective coat. Repeat this step again for extra durability, and add LED tea lights when dry. Enjoy!

These luminaries look simply sweet when lined up, so if you plan to display them this way do try to find jars in varying heights. I hope you've enjoyed this craft, more Tu B'Shevat crafting ideas coming up next week, stay tuned!