Yield: 8 Lanterns
DIY Halloween Lanterns from Trick or Treat Buckets
Turn plastic trick or treat buckets into glowing jack o' lantern lanterns with a craft knife and two cans of spray paint.
Equipment
- 1 Exacto knife
Materials
- Plastic pumpkin trick or treat buckets large and small
- Metallic gold spray paint
- Matte black spray paint
- Painter's tape
- Battery operated tea lights
- Battery operated pillar candles
Instructions
- Wrap the handles in painter's tape to keep them their original color.
- Cut along the face that is already molded into the plastic. Eyes first, then nose, then mouth. Push the pieces out from the inside and clean up ragged edges with the blade held at a shallow angle.
- Turn the bucket upside down and spray the interior metallic gold. Spray from directly underneath. The gold reflects the candlelight back out through the face.
- Spray two light coats of matte black on the outside, letting the first dry fully before the second. Skip this step on one or two buckets if you want gold lanterns in the mix.
- Cut a short vertical slit down the back seam of the small buckets so a tea light will fit through.
- Drop a battery tea light into each small lantern and a battery pillar into each large one.
Notes
Battery candles only. A real flame will warp and melt the plastic. Timer tea lights turn themselves on at dusk. The small lanterns tuck inside the large ones for storage, so the whole set fits in one bin.