Upcycled Chinese New Year Jar Lanterns

3 Materials
$5
20 Minutes
Easy

Not many people know this, but I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I now live in the UK, but I still celebrate some Chinese traditions and holidays. That is why I made these cute mini Chinese lanterns for my mantle. Chinese New Year is only 2 days before Valentine's day this year, so they will have to vie for space with my supercute Scandi hearts decoration.

My husband loves that posh yogurt you get in the cute little jars. As I had a stash of them, I decided to use them to make these little lanterns.

I also used colored washi tape and double-sided sticky tape.

The paper lanterns were made from the free templates on my blog. There are six different vintage Chinese pattern designs to choose from. Just visit the blog link at the end were you can download them for free.

Cut out the template you want to use and then fold it in half lengthways.

Cut the slits marked on the template.

Wrap the top and the bottom of the small glass jars with double-sided sticky tape.

Wrap the paper template around the jar and stick it to the tape. Then use the washi tape to create a decorative trim to both the top and the bottom of these mini lanterns.

Pop a remote-controlled LED light (link in blog) in each jar. These tea lights can all be switched on and off at the same time by just pressing one button.

These colorful tea light lanterns look so cute on my mantle, I will be keeping them up well past Chinese New Year. I've also made some upcycled postage stamps lights with these little jars.

Resources for this project:
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Claire at Pillarboxblue
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Erin Erin on Feb 14, 2021

    These could go Christmasy too.

  • Michele Michele on Feb 14, 2021

    Those are so cute .What a fun idea. I have to admit I too collect those glass yogurt jars. Thanks for sharing

    • See 1 previous
    • Claire at Pillarboxblue Claire at Pillarboxblue on Feb 15, 2021

      Thank you so much, the jars are just so cute I will be looking for more ideas to upcycle them.

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