Happy Halloween! This is quick little project that I did solely to make a pun I’ve been waiting 10 years to make. My dog’s name is Jacko, and so I’ve always wanted to have him wear a lantern on Halloween. Get it? Jacko-lantern? hahahaha, it’s terrible 🙂 I whipped up this Halloween lantern using my stash of trash I’ve been saving for crafting purposes. For more Halloween crafting, check out my Jack-o-lantern mushrooms and scrap fabric spiders. Enjoy!
Materials
Most of this Halloween lantern is made out of trash: cardboard from packaging and the lids from takeaway containers. I also used Mod Podge, acrylic paint, hot glue, tacky glue, and of course a battery operated candle.
Method
I completely made this up as I went along, so I won’t be going into a lot of detail on the construction. However, as I usually do, I started by making a sketch of the basic parts that I would need and then cut out paper pattern pieces.
Construction
Step 1: Cut out cardboard
This was pretty self-explanatory, but as I’ll talk about later in the post, the cardboard I chose for the frame was a bit too thin.
Step 2: Make the candle holder
I used a paper towel roll to make a candle holder and glued it to a heavy cardboard base. It was a perfect fit!
Step 3: Assemble the top
This was definitely the most complicated part. I ended up changing the ‘roof’ pattern to make it work a bit better. I also filled in the gaps created by the hot glue and cardboard by using modeling paste.
Step 4: Seal it and finish assembly
Next, I painted all the pieces with a mixture of black acrylic paint and Mod Podge to seal the cardboard. Then, I added the closure, added plastic panes to the frame pieces, glued together the frame, and added the top to the frame using a piece of leather as a hinge.
Step 5: Dry brush
The final step was dry brushing! I did a layer of dark brown, a layer of lighter brown, and finally a layer of gold to give the lantern a brass-patina look.
Final Thoughts
I’m glad I finally did this! There are some things I definitely don’t love, but I think I may try again next year and make a better version. The primary issue was that the cardboard I used for the frame wasn’t sturdy enough to support the leather closure I used. Trying to get it opened and closed to turn the candle on and off is a challenge. I tried to change it by adding magnets under the top and along the sides instead but they weren’t strong enough to hold it closed. It’s not very sturdy/functional and may not last, but it’s cute as a decorative item this year.
