The first step is to choose a paper and a desired size for your luminaria. The paper should have enough strength to stand on its own when folded, but still be thin enough for light to shine through. (If you have a beautiful paper that is just too flimsy and you want to use it anyway, see Luminaria Underwear below.) Size is determined by the width of a side and the desired height of the luminaria. Width of each side must be at least 4 inches to use our Lamp Guts as a light source and to safely use a candle (which should always be contained in a glass taller than the candle, so that a wind-blown flame would not come in contact with the paper). Width of a side may be as large as you want, but after about 5.5", the look becomes awkward and it is harder to find paper large enough for the overall shade.
Step 1
Cut your paper to size. If using handmade paper, you may want to leave the deckle edge as the top of the luminaria shade, but the bottom of the shade must be straight cut so the finished lamp will sit evenly on a surface. Use a metal straight edge or ruler and an Exacto or rolling type cutter. Watch those fingers!!
The formula for measuring is 4 times your chosen width for a side plus 1" - by whatever height you want. Suppose you wanted each side to be 4" wide and the luminaria to stand 8.5" tall. Your paper would be 17" (4" x 4" plus 1") x 8.5".
Step 2
Lay out your paper wrong side up with the top of the shade away from you. Measure 1" from the right edge and lightly score with a bone folder, scoring blade, or burnisher. Fold the right edge toward the center and crease along the score you made. See Figure 1 below. Your paper is now 16" wide if you were using the formula above.
Bring the (folded) right edge B over to meet edge A. See Figure 2. Make sure the two edges are aligned exactly and crease the fold you have made down the center of your paper. It is best to start at the top or bottom edge to make the crease rather than in the middle. Sharpen the center crease with a bone folder or brayer, then open the paper to lie flat again.
Bring the folded right edge B toward you again - this time aligning it with the center fold of your paper. Crease the new fold with a bone folder. See Figure 3.
Bring the left edge A over to align with the center fold and crease the resulting fold. See Figure 4.
Open your original 1" tab fold so it is at a 90 degree angle to the rest of the paper. Stand your shade up and you will see that it naturally forms a chimney shape. Attach the 1" tab to the wrong side of edge A with glue or tape and your shade should stand by itself. The tab should be at the rear of the shade. In Figure 4 above, the third panel from the left is the front panel of your shade when the lamp is turned correctly. If you are doing artwork on your shade, doing the folding first will help you with proper placement so the most important part of your design ends up at the front of your lamp.
Step 8
Cut a V-shaped notch at the bottom of the back panel of your shade so that the cord can pass through it and your luminaria will set evenly on the table top.
This is a trick we came up with in the gallery when we wanted to make lamps out of papers we loved, but that just didn't have the “gumption” to stand up straight. We made “underwear” for the lamps out of Sheer Heaven paper!
Basically, the underwear is a slightly smaller lamp shade that fits inside the outer shade and gives it lots of standing strength while still allowing the light to shine through.
Start with a big sheet (17" x 22") of Sheer Heaven and cut a piece that takes 1/4" off the hieght of your outer shade, and 3/8" off the width.( In the case of our original example which measured 17" x 8.5", the underwear would measure 16-5/8" by 8-1/4").When you have followed the folding instructions above, you will have an inner shade that just fits snugly inside your outer shade. Remember to cut the V-shaped notch for the cord passthrough in the underwear shade as well.
Note: The best adhesive for attaching the tab to the back panel on a Sheer Heaven shade is double stick tape.
Close this window to return to the Luminaria page.