How to Make a DIY Lantern Ornament Out of Waste Materials

2 Materials
$5
30 Minutes
Easy

You don't have to spend a lot of money on decorating your house and today I am going to show you how. This DIY lantern ornament looks pricey, but is made with only a glass jar and nautical rope. It can be adapted to fit almost any décor and is so easy to make!


This post was transcribed by a member of the Hometalk editorial team from the original HometalkTV episode.


How to make a lantern out of waste materials

All I used for this project was a glass jar, a couple of packages of decorative nautical rope from the dollar store, and hot glue. Style it with your choice of decorative objects.

Cutting strips of rope

1. Cut strips of nautical rope

To start putting my DIY beach lantern together, I measured eight strips of rope, each 11 inches long.  

Sticking vertical strips of rope to a jar

2. Attach vertical strips of nautical rope

Once I got all of my strips cut to 11 inches, I used my glue gun to start attaching them to the side of the jar. Most jars usually have a seam, which is a great place to start. That gives you a line to go down so you keep everything even. 

Drawing a line of hot glue down a glass jar

I tried gluing my rope several different ways. I drew a long line of glue down the jar and adhered a strip of rope.

DIY lantern ideas

For the next piece of rope, I went at it a little differently doing a little glue at a time. I liked this method much better. Whenever you're working on a project, you get a feel for what works best and go with that.  

Adding a second strip of rope opposite the first

I continued using the second method to glue on the remaining strips until they were all on the jar. I kept adding a strip of twine opposite to the one I just added and then one in between each to fill in the spaces until I worked my way around the jar.  

DIY lantern ornament

When I was done with all eight, I wanted to clean up the bottom. If any of your rope is fraying, you can go ahead and glue those down. 

Gluing a horizontal strip of rope to the top of a glass jar

3. Glue horizontal strips of rope to the jar

Next, I wanted to add some horizontal strips to the jar. I added two long strips that each ended up being 22 inches long.  

Gluing a horizontal strip of rope to the bottom of a glass jar

I decided to keep it simple and just do one on the top and one around the bottom gluing them in place as I placed them around the jar.  

Gluing strips of rope to the rim of the jar

4. Glue rope to the rim

For the last step, I opted to cut three 15-inch strips to finish off the rim of the jar. It looks much better finished this way as it covers up the ends of the rope. I just glued the rope in place as I wrapped it around.  

DIY lantern ornament styled on a wooden charger next to a vintage jar

5. Style your DIY lantern ornament


For the finishing touches, I placed it on a wooden charger next to a cute little vintage jar with pretty blue flowers. I poured some sand from the dollar store into the jar and added a flameless LED candle. I decided to give it more of a coastal feel with some seashells from our trips to the beach and a cute little sign.  

DIY beach lantern

How to make a DIY lantern ornament out of waste materials

I think this DIY lantern ornament looks so sweet and because this jar is very neutral, it would look good staged and styled for any season. I hope you enjoyed learning how to make a beautiful lantern out of waste materials. 

Resources for this project:
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  2 questions
  • Jeannie Herman Jeannie Herman on Jan 22, 2022

    How do you turn

  • Chris Horton Chris Horton on Jun 29, 2022

    Hi, thank you for this idea. Would it work on smaller jars? I can’t say I’ve ever seen jars as big as your one over here. But I have loads of smaller ones. Xxx🌹

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 29 comments
  • Chris Horton Chris Horton on Jun 29, 2022

    Love this idea. It’s a must try for me as I have loads of glass jars. Thank you for showing. I so enjoyed it x

  • Aida Aida on Jun 13, 2023

    Excellent idea…very easy and practical …thank you for sharing 😍

Next