What does one do when a garden party comes together without the proper lighting? How is one supposed to see who’s sitting where and what you’re eating and if a bug has gotten in your drink? If you’ve run out of Tiki torches, citronella candles, or have one of those annoying outdoor lights that flash on as soon as someone moves, you might want to consider this option: the outdoor lantern. And these you can make easily all by yourself!
The nice thing about this project is that you can tailor it to your needs. Want one casual looking lantern for a night sitting around the fire pit? You can try the Fishnet Wrapped Mason Jar. Need a few lanterns to light the way to the outdoor dinner party? You can try the Sisal Rope Bowls or the Macrame Hanging Lanterns. These can also be made with a variety of colors and materials. However, if you need some ideas or are interested in seeing what else is out there, then you can check out this industrial barn light for a creative spark. You never know you might find something that you like straight away.
Basically, all you need are glass jars or bowls (mason jars are popular, as are small bowls from the dollar store), candles (tee lights, short candles, or pre-used candles you need to get rid of – it’s really up to you), fiber (rope, cord, and chunky yarn are popular choices), scissors, and whatever you want to use to decorate the lanterns – you can fill the bowls with water and place tee lights inside (they make great centerpieces), you can use sand and shells for a nautical theme, you can use pebbles collected from various travels, or marbles, popcorn kernels, rice, beans, buttons, beads, etc. It all depends on your theme.
Another bonus about this project is that it’s cheap to make – everything you need to make it can be found at the local dollar or thrift store. You can also visit the craft store or the local grocery store to find the mason jars. Another way to cut costs is to scavenge amongst your craft supplies or outdoors to find things to fill the jars. You could even ask friends and family if they’d be willing to donate materials – as a thank you, you can provide them with their own lantern.
Once you’ve gathered your materials, it’s a simple, quick trick to wrap the jars or bowls. If you know macrame, you’ll have an easy way to glam the lantern up, but even if you don’t, not to worry – you can wrap the lanterns in rope and call it a day. You can also look at various tutorials and figure out your own way to wrap – you aren’t limited to just rope or cord – you can use fabric, chain, or leather to achieve your preferred look.
Want to try making your own fleet of cool summer DIY lanterns? You can find simple tutorials at the following websites: Poppy Talk has an outdoor lantern post, while Centsational Girl has a rope bowl tutorial if you prefer centerpieces. Brit has a DIY macrame hanger that you can use for lanterns, and Craft Creativity has another macrame hanger tutorial on their BlogLovin site, as does Pop Sugar. If you want a nautical themed lantern, you can try It All Started With Paint’s fishnet wrapped mason jar.
