Repurposed Can to Lantern

by Chas' Crazy Creations

8 Materials

15 Minutes

Easy

Here is an easy and inexpensive way to create lanterns from cans just in time for summer!

You can see more of my crazy creations here

Fill your can with water.

Place in the freezer over night to freeze the water.

Decide on your lantern design.

You'll need a hammer along with a nail or punch to make your holes.

Pound the nail or punch through the can into the ice. You only need to go far enough to go through the can.

Continue making holes in your can to make your design. Once your done, place your can upside down in the sink and let the ice melt out.

Add a candle, led light, or solar light.

You can stop here or add a handle...

If you're adding the handle - before you let the ice thaw out, poke 2 more holes on either side where your wire will go though.

You'll need some wire to make the handle, and you can add some beads for beauty.

Poke your wire through the hole and twist the end. Add beads onto the wire.

Once your have created your desired handle length poke the other end of your wire through the can and twist the end.

Hang your can on a garden hook, tree, or fence outside.

I really like the way the beads glow.

Older kids can make these too. I learned how to do this when I was a kid in girl scouts.

I would love to have you stop by my blog Chas' Crazy Creations for the full tutorial as well as sign up for my latest creations, posts, recipes, exclusives, and more...

I would love for you to subscribe to my YouTube channel to see more of my crazy creations - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIOsMN7hycVRco-MROXwmXg

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Can
Water
Hammer (Dollar Tree/Hardware Store)
Nail or Punch (Hardware Store)
Wire (Walmart)
Beads (Dollar Tree)
Garden Hook - optional (Dollar Tree)
Candle/LED Light/Solar Light (LED light Amazon/Candle or Solar Light Dollar Tree)

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Frequently asked questions

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3 questions

Vatburr on May 08, 2017

I don't understand the purpose of freezing water in the can???

2
Pam Walker on May 08, 2017

Good Job!! Addition: You could also glue the beads to the holes in the heart too. The heart would glow multi-colored. You could also do multiple cans with solid colors on each can & watch them all light up (one blue, one pink, etc). :)

5
Cindy on May 08, 2017

Your lanterns are beautiful. I think I am going to try this. Where did you purchase the beads? Thank you. From Cindy.

1

Comments

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4 of 58 comments

Daisy@TX on Jan 25, 2019

I too remember this from a long time ago! Only we stopped at just the can
so we could use as luminaries.

1 Reply
- Chas' Crazy Creations on Jan 26, 2019
  
  Thank you so much for sharing your memory with me :)
  
  Like
Daisy@TX on Jan 25, 2019

I will try this with the hanging beads so I can see them glow in the dark!

1 Reply
- Chas' Crazy Creations on Jan 26, 2019
  
  I'm thrilled you want to give this a try again and I really do love the way the beads light up.
  
  Like