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I ordered two gorgeous lanterns from Amazon last year with a plan to add some decorative painting. The glass panels and metal star cutouts were so very pretty. Better late than never, right? Yesterday I removed them from the depths of my craft shelf and transformed each one into a Holly Berry Christmas Lantern. The Yankee Candle Pine Cone Wreath tea lights smell wonderful. You can also feel the glorious heat rising from the cutouts in the top of the lantern.
Materials for the Holly Berry Christmas Lantern:
- black lantern with metal cutout
- Yankee Candle Pine Cone Wreath or Christmas is in the Air tealights
- Apple Barrel Paints- 20354E Real Brown, 20408E White, 20651E Real Green, 21396E Sublime Lime, 20637E Hot Rod Red
- paint brushes- 1/8″ flat, small round, liner
Holly Berry Christmas Lantern:
Like most Christmas elements, the holly berry has both Christian and pagan legends attached to its history.
The early Romans gave boughs of holly to friends during the Saturnalia Festival. It was a celebration of Saturn and the Winter Solstice. Holly berries were also sacred Druid symbols.
Winter Solstice is the day of the shortest time between the sun rising and the sun setting.
Historians claim that Christians chose to celebrate Christ’s birth during the Winter Solstice Festival to avoid religious persecution. According to beliefnet.com:
As is clear from both the New Testament and surviving accounts of both Romans and Christians, pagan Rome was not a good place to be a Christian prior to Constantine the Great’s conversion. Christians were routinely rounded up, arrested, tortured and then murdered in a variety of creatively grisly fashions. Rome knew how to turn pain, fear and death into a spectacle that simultaneously entertained a bloodthirsty populace and cowed them into submission. As such, Christians had to be careful how and when they worshiped. For much of its early life, the Christian religion essentially existed underground.
Christian legends depict holly springing up under the footsteps of Jesus.
Holly leaves represent the Crown of Thorns that Jesus wore and the red berries mimic drops of His blood.
The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony outlawed the celebration of Christmas because of its pagan origins. Colonists were fined 5 shillings from 1659 to 1681 if caught celebrating Christmas- from The New York Times article, The Puritan War on Christmas.
As written in the Reno Gazette Journal, to produce berries, the female holly plant must be within range of a male holly plant so that fertilization can occur. Who knew?
The holly berry is poisonous to people and pets.
Ancient Romans planted holly near their homes. They thought it protected them from lightning and witchcraft.
I hope you enjoyed my Holly Berry Christmas Lantern tutorial.
Merry Christmas,
Kristie
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Read DIY Nativity Christmas Wreath or Snowy Cabin Trucker Jacket
Such a cute idea, thank you for sharing on omhgww, hope you will stop by and share again this week! I have pinned to share on a Pinterest Group
Very beautifully painted lantern. Thank you for sharing with us at Meraki link party.
Naush
Super cute lantern Kristie! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Farm Fresh Tuesdays Blog Hop! Your lantern is one of my features at this week’s hop. See you there!
Melissa | Little Frugal Homestead
I love this idea. Thank you for sharing at Charming Homes and Gardens.