A warm light changes how a room feels within seconds. You do not need expensive store bought light fixtures to change your room decor. With simple items from your recycling bin or local craft store, you can build custom lanterns tonight. Handmade lanterns add character that store bought lamps rarely match.
1. Upcycled mason jar fairy lanterns
Turn basic glass jars into fairy lanterns with fine glitter and paper cutouts. Coat the inside of a jar with decoupage glue, dust it with glitter, and glue a black paper cutout silhouette to the interior wall.
Drop a battery powered LED tealight inside to light up the paper shape. Pro Tip: Use flameless candles here to protect your glitter finish and prevent paper fires.
2. Rustic twig and canvas lanterns
Gather straight twigs from your yard for a natural look. Wrap thin parchment paper around an open wooden frame, then attach the twigs vertically around the edges with hot glue.
This design throws sharp branch patterns across your table, working well on an open porch.
3. Bohemian tissue paper stained glass lanterns
Tissue paper lanterns add bold color to any bedroom or living room. Cut colored tissue paper into geometric shapes like triangles or diamonds, then press them onto clear glass jars with Mod Podge.
When you light the candle inside, the overlapping paper layers imitate real stained glass windows. Note: Deep shades like sapphire blue, emerald green, and amber yield strong color contrasts.
4. Pressed flower glass lanterns
Save spring blooms by crafting pressed botanical lanterns. Apply flat, dried flowers directly to clean glass cylinders using a small brush and clear craft glue.
Follow pressing techniques from Martha Stewart to flatten your petals completely before gluing them. Seal the exterior with a second topcoat to hold every leaf in place. The translucent petals let light pass through cleanly on spring dinner tables.
5. Perforated tin can lanterns
Save your empty soup cans for this project. Fill clean tin cans with water and freeze them solid. The ice keeps the metal walls from bending while you hammer nail holes into the surface.
Simple steps for punching designs:
- Draw your pattern on paper and tape it to the frozen can.
- Punch holes along your traced design lines with a nail.
- Melt the ice, dry the can, and spray paint it matte black or copper.
Once you place a light inside, pinpricks of light project geometric shapes onto nearby walls.
6. Japanese origami paper lanterns
Folded paper lanterns bring clean, modern lines to a room. Use thick cardstock or parchment paper to fold geometric accordion pleats.
If you enjoy working with paper, our list of paper crafts for kids covers essential scoring and folding techniques. Slide a string of LED fairy lights inside your folded paper column for soft, diffused lighting.
7. Macrame hanging jar lanterns
Combine simple knots with glass jars to create hanging lanterns. Knot natural cotton cord around the rim of a wide mouth jar using basic square knots.
Work a netted basket pattern down the sides of the jar to hold the glass in place. Always test your bottom knots for strength before hanging glass from the ceiling.
8. Sea glass and driftwood coastal lanterns
Build coastal lanterns using gathered beach glass. Glue frosted sea glass pieces around the exterior of a clear glass cylinder using clear silicone adhesive.
Wrap the top rim with natural jute twine and attach a small piece of polished driftwood for a handle. The turquoise and white glass soften the direct light of the candle flame.
9. Cut-out cardstock shadow box lanterns
Build three dimensional paper shadow boxes using a craft knife or digital vinyl cutter. Cut multiple paper layers depicting trees, animals, or city skylines.
Separate each paper panel inside a square frame using small foam spacers. When you place micro LED lights behind the paper sheets, the spaced layers create visible depth across the scene.
10. Faux terrarium moss lanterns
Turn a glass box lantern into a small indoor terrarium. Glue preserved sheet moss, pebbles, and small artificial mushrooms across the interior base of the lantern.
Set a tall LED pillar candle directly in the center of the greenery. This setup gives you plant decor inside without any maintenance or watering.
11. Vintage book page lanterns
Give worn book pages new life with this simple paper project. Cut shapes (such as stars or leaves) directly out of yellowed book pages.
Paste the paper around glass jars or wrap it over wire cylinder frames. The printed text surrounding illuminated cutouts makes a clear display piece for bookshelves.
12. Yarn-wrapped globe lanterns
Build round spherical lanterns with cotton yarn, balloons, and school glue. Inflate a latex balloon, wrap glue soaked yarn across the surface in random directions, and let it dry overnight.
Pop the balloon with a pin and pull the deflated latex out through a gap. You get a hollow yarn orb ready for string lights.
13. Frosted winter snowflake glass lanterns
Convert plain glass vases into seasonal lanterns using frosted glass spray paint over paper snowflake cutouts on clear glass jars.
Review project guides on The Spruce Crafts to learn how to peel stencils cleanly. Remove the paper shapes while the paint stays slightly wet to leave clear glass windows in the frosted surface.
14. Painted Moroccan tile glass lanterns
Add bold tile patterns to patio lights using dimensional gold liner paint and stained glass paint. Trace tile patterns onto glass panels with the gold liner.
Fill the open spaces with transparent glass paint colors like cobalt blue and deep yellow. The raised gold outlines catch light directly from the internal candle flame.
15. Water bead LED floating lanterns
Create floating display lanterns using expanded gel water beads. Fill a tall glass vase with clear water beads and submerge waterproof LED disc lights inside the gel.
Place artificial floating flowers on top of the water line. The clear water beads hold decorative objects in place, creating the appearance of floating elements in midair.
16. Bamboo skewer geometric lanterns
Craft geometric lanterns using inexpensive wooden barbecue skewers. Glue the skewers together with hot glue to build three dimensional frames such as pyramids or cubes.
Spray paint the wooden assembly matte black or metallic gold. Place an Edison LED bulb inside the open frame for a clean modern look.
17. Clothespin wooden crate lanterns
Take apart wooden spring clothespins to use their individual wooden halves. Glue the flat sides of the clothespins together side by side to build square lattice walls.
Stain the wooden assemblies with dark walnut wood stain. The small gaps between the clothespins cast thin strips of light across tabletop surfaces.
18. Lace doily candle lanterns
Make vintage candle holders using cotton lace doilies. Soak the doilies in fabric stiffener or Mod Podge, then press them flat against clean glass jars.
Once dry, the hardened lace sticks to the glass while light shines through the thread patterns. These work well as low cost centerpieces for dinners or events.
19. Watercolor coffee filter lanterns
Make soft pastel lanterns using standard round paper coffee filters. Paint the filters with watercolor paint and let the colors bleed together across the surface.
If you enjoy quick paint projects, check our collection of crafts for kids for simple drying techniques. Wrap the dried filters around battery operated candles to diffuse the light.
20. Seashell mosaic mason jar lanterns
Put leftover beach shells to use on glass jars. Glue small shells and dried starfish onto glass using tile adhesive or clear craft glue.
Fill remaining open gaps between shells by brushing Mod Podge onto the glass and dusting it with fine beach sand. When illuminated, the textured shell surface casts detailed shadows around the room.
21. Recycled plastic bottle hanging lanterns
Turn discarded soda bottles into hanging garden lanterns. Cut the top neck off a plastic bottle, slice vertical strips down the sides, and curve the plastic outward near a mild heat source.
Paint the plastic exterior using translucent glass paint. Hang several finished bottles from outdoor branches alongside fairy lights to brighten your yard.
22. Clay cut-out candle lanterns
Roll air dry or polymer clay into thin sheets. Wrap the clay sheets around temporary cylinder molds, trimming the edges so the seam lays flat.
Use small cookie cutters to stamp out geometric patterns or leaf shapes before the clay hardens. You can find clay tutorials on HGTV. Slide out your inner mold and let the clay dry into a firm lantern shell.
23. Woven rattan and wire lanterns
Build woven lights using wire mesh and natural rattan reed. Shape chicken wire into cylinder bases, then weave reed strips through the mesh openings.
Leave small openings in your weave so interior candle light passes through freely. The natural reed material adds texture to plain rooms.
24. Dried citrus slice autumn lanterns
Dehydrate orange or lemon slices in your oven at low temperatures until translucent. Glue dried citrus rounds edge to edge around the surface of a glass hurricane vase.
25. Glow-in-the-dark constellation jars
Paint star constellations inside jars for nightstand lighting. Coat the inside of a glass jar with dark navy glass paint.
Use glow in the dark fabric paint to mark star patterns like Orion along the interior wall. Set the jar in daylight during the afternoon so the paint glows once you turn off the room lights at night.
Building your own lanterns
Making custom light fixtures requires few expensive supplies. Glass jars, paper scrap, clay, and gathered twigs offer all the materials you need to build simple indoor or outdoor lighting. Pick a design from this list, gather your basic supplies, and start making your own lighting today.