Christmas Eve Luminaries

Christmas Eve - Age 5

My oldest daughter and I stumbled across the most beautiful scene last year on Christmas Eve.  A bunch of my neighbors had put up a couple hundred luminaries around one of the playgrounds in the middle of my neighborhood.  They were lovely and I'd never seen anything like it.

Turns out it is a tradition in my community that is growing every year.  We decided to get involved this year and so we helped set them up tonight in the park. We also bought supplies to put them in front of our house.  I thought I'd share the easy 1-2-3 directions in case you want to set some up yourself either tonight or perhaps for New Year's Eve.

It took 10 bags to cover the front of my house.  We used white lunch bags, sand and long-lasting candles.  First you fold the bag down once or twice.  Then put sand in the bottom and place the candle in the middle.  Make sure the wick is facing up.  Viola, a luminarie!  

After making the luminaries for our house we joined our neighbors in the park to set up the over 200 luminaries there!  All together our community (a few different neighborhoods) had over 2000 lit up tonight!  A bonus for the volunteers at our park were cookies and goodies to share after we finished setting up.  I love our neighborhood!

We lit the candles as the sun was setting (the candles last 12-15 hrs).  Then we went home to get the rest of the family.

Once it was dark out we filled up the wagon and went out as a family to admire the view.

The kids loved it, and a little playing at the park in the dark was fun too.

Christmas Eve 2013 - Age 6