Luminarias

Flower & Garden Magazine, Nov-Dec, 1998

To decorate differently this season -- try luminarias. These holiday yard decorations are easy to put together and fun for the whole family.

If you live in a warm locale, you may want to place luminarias along your garden paths for your outdoor holiday parties.

For three centuries, the Spanish villages along the Rio Grande have displayed Christmas luminarias. In Indian and Spanish villages luminarias are lighted on special occasions such as the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Christmas Eve and for great fiestas. In cities and suburban areas, luminarias are frequently used during the holidays to designate which homes are having parties.

THE HISTORY

The first luminarias were bonfires of crisscrossed pinon boughs built in 3-foot high squares. The first small paper lanterns were made when colored paper was brought from the Orient. Instead of hanging these fragile lanterns from trees or on wires they were placed on ground walls, rooftops and along pathways. The custom of festival lights was imported to the New World from Spain by way of Mexico. During Spanish colonial times, however, paper and candles were highly taxed, heavy goods brought to New Mexico by ox cart.

It was not until the 1870s, when Yankee traders began bringing goods over the Santa Fe Trail, that paper -- especially plain wrapping paper -- became accessible to all. The resulting style of brown paper luminarias has never been improved. The glow of the candle through a brown paper sack in the dark of the night, multiplied by thousands and thousands of such lights is an awesome sight.

Luminaria Ingredients

1. Fold top of sack down 2 inches and make a cuff all the way around 2. Fill sack 1/4-inch full with sand below dotted line. 3. Place candle inside sack on top of sand.