Luminated 3-Dimensional Jack-o-Lantern

A few months ago a stumbled across this great idea via the Artful Parent for making a 3D contact paper stained glass sculpture. I applied that concept to make this little guy for Halloween.

I made a circle with 20 gauge wire in the size I wanted the jack-o-lantern to be. I cut a larger circle of clear contact paper-- large enough to fold the edges of contact paper around the wire and have some room to make it 3-dimensional. Clear packing tape was necessary to reinforce the seams.

I made a face using black yarn, but I think it would have been cuter to let the kids draw a face with a Sharpie (or the yarn--their faces are always better). They stuck bits of tissue paper on the sticky side. Then we stood it up and pushed the contact paper around until it was the shape we wanted and able to stand on its own. We put a little LED tea lite behind him and it glows beautifully.

The LED candles have been a major source of entertainment the last few weeks. The lights are always being turned off so they can set up the candles.

I had to include this photo of our huge sweetheart, JJ. Always involved in, even if oblivious to, the action around him. At one point he had about four candles on him before he looked up.