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Beach Lantern Tutorial: How to Make Your Own Lantern

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Welcome to day 6 of the Beach Bash with a great beach lantern tutorial! Our bash goes from June 27 to July 20. Missed some of the posts?  Click here to read all the Beach Bash posts!
Wendy from Craft Goodies is here today to show you how to make your own lantern! Break out your picture frames and appear to be amazed!

OH! How I love the beach!

And Oh! How excited am I to be participating in Angie’s super fab BEACH BASH! Hi-it’s Wendy from Craft Goodies here.


(okay, so it’s me and the whole fam cause I hate taking pictures of myself!)
My blog is my escape from my real life of running 5 little girls around town and trying to keep up with my husband’s crazy busy work/school schedule. On it, you’ll find everything I love – good food, fun projects – some of my own, a few borrowed from others, snippets of my family life, and any and all other craziness I can write about.
I started my blog as a way to keep in touch with my crafty friends after a big move from Washington state to Southern Texas. It has grown into a place I love to be, that and my kids think it’s pretty cool that their mom has a “job”.If you ever stop by and check me out, you’ll find that I am by far a girl that loves her power tools and a good wood project. I’ve been drooling over these for a while now. It came out pretty good…I’m a happy girl! Angie’s party was the perfect excuse to try and tackle one.
Learn how to make a beach lantern with frames from the dollar store! This inexpensive project is perfect for your home decor whether it is nautical or not! #beach #lantern #dollarstore

Supplies needed:

  • 4  8×10 picture frames with glass (These came from my local dollar store)
  • square dowel pack
  • 1×2 firring strip (6 ft board is plenty long!)
  • 1×3 firring strip
  • 1×12 pine board cut to square (wood is funky! actual size is 11.5×11.5)
  • (2)  3/8 inch square poplar dowels
  • 6 inch metal roof shingle
  • metal shelf support ring (this came in a set)
  • 2 hinges (these come in a pack of 4)
  • wood glue
  • finishing nails
  • hammer
  • paints
  • paper
  • Miter saw or miter box
  • hand saw
  • drill

dollar store supplies for crafts

How to Make a Beach Lantern:

Make the base:

base for beach lantern

Cut the 1×2 to make a frame around the 12×12 inch board. The ends are mitered at 45 degrees and each piece is 11 1/2 inches long on the short side. Glue the pieces into place with the wood glue and then secure with a few finishing nails.

Connect the frames:

making lantern sides

Remove the glass from the frames and set aside. Cut the 3/8 inch dowels into four pieces that match the length of the picture frames- Glue a dowel onto each side of two frames, then glue the third frame in between them to for a “U” shape.

making a wood lantern

Once they are dry, attach the fourth frame using the hinges-you’ll add a handle later. Center the frames onto the base. Glue the three “U” frames into place leaving the door free to open and close.

Make the lid:

Making a lid for a lantern

Make two more “frames”, one from the 1×3 with each piece (short side) measuring 6 3/4 inches long. And one from the 1×2 with the pieces measuring 6 1/2 inches long. Set the two frames aside.

Painting:

rustic paint treatment on a lantern

I wanted that chippy, peeling, I’ve been at the beach for a long time look. So I started with a base coat of dark brown and topped that off with white. Then I sanded the crud out of it! You could add a layer of stain, I liked it so I just added a coat of varnish. Set aside to dry. You can see more about making a chippy paint finish here.

Assemble the metal lid:

metal lid for a craft project

Center the shelving support onto the shingle, mark the holes with a marker. If you want to add a hanging loop, drill two holes into the shelving support bracket. Otherwise, drill out the holes marked on the shingle, line the bracket back up and add nuts and bolts to hold in place. Spray paint both sides dark brown. Pretend the pictures all match up-I went about it the hard way and painted after I assembled the entire lid piece…

finishing steps for a beach lantern

Center the shingle onto the inside of the smallest frame and nail into place. Repeat on the opposite side to form the metal dome. Glue the small frame onto the larger frame and add a few nails. Then glue that onto the picture frame square being sure to NOT glue the door. I added a few nails here for strength.

Paned Windows:

adding panes to frames

Cut 4 of the dowels to fit the inside of the frame’s length, should be 10.5 inches. Cut the remaining dowels into eight 3 7/8 inch pieces for the cross-sections.
Paint the dowels to match the lantern. While they dry replace the glass into the frames.
Glue the dowels onto the glass to create the panes-one long and 2 small pieces per frame.

Finish it up:

how to make a beach lantern from dollar store supplies

Add a wire hanger if you drilled holes for it and glue a small seashell or wood bead to the door for a handle. Tuck in a few pillar candles, sand, and some great shells inside, set back and enjoy the view! AH! I can almost smell the ocean air now…So much fun! Thank you for letting me share my little piece of beach heaven with you all.

Thanks so much Wendy!!  I love this project!!!  And I am NOT just saying that cause you used my maps!
The Beach Bash has been full of great ideas and runs til July 20 — follow along with The Country Chic Cottage and don’t miss a day!!  

Love this post and want more ideas? Try the links below!

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Comments

  3. Rustique Gal says

    This is just too cool! I love it and the tutorial makes it look possible for me to do! Also Loving the map covered candles. I’m going to do that to mine now!!!
    Sherry

    Reply

  5. Jennifer says

    Are you kidding me? Seriously? This is great! I love the different pieces you used to put this all together! I’m def going to feature it next Friday on my blog! Stop by and grab a button if you like. Found you over at Funky Junk.
    Jen
    Scissors & Spatulas

    Reply

  21. Duanne Gill says

    I made a custom tin lantern after some light wielding work out of a car’s carborator. Used some blow-torch, power saw and some screws via the tools online selection.

    Reply

  22. elaine says

    QUESTION: You wrote, “Center the shingle onto the inside of the smallest frame and nail into place. Repeat on the opposite side to form the metal dome.”. I assume you nailed on the inside. But when you have to bend the sheet over and put other side into the inside of the other side of the smallest frame, how do you get your hand inside the dome you’ve just created and nail the other side of shingle into other side of frame?

    Thanks, can’t wait to try this as I had the idea myself but couldn’t figure out how to do the top!
    Elaine

    Reply

  23. Annalise says

    This is amazing! How much did it cost for the supplies? (Sorry if I missed it in the post!) I’m always on the lookout for amazing DIY’s that are super cheap.

    Reply

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