How to Repurpose Lanterns to Match Your Home Decor
I found some battery operated light-up lanterns at our local Ross for only $7.99 for the simple ones and $9.99 for the slightly larger one. The only problem was they were black instead of the colors I wanted. Luckily it was an easy fix…
Lanterns make cute home decor. They are great on a fire place mantel or as a centerpiece. I originally purchased these three lanterns to use as wedding reception decor. However the color scheme for our decorations did not include black. I decided to go with ivory and turquoise.
The plastic covers and the battery operated candle were easy to remove. Everything was held together by a few tiny screws and slid right out. Once the lantern was in two parts the painting was fairly simple.
I used the satin finish spray paint by Rust-Oleum. I love this spray paint and have used this brand on several projects now. The items I paint always come out exactly like the color shows on the can so there is no guess work involved or disappointed in the shade of color. The lanterns had a lot of little pieces all connected together for the design. This made it a little more time consuming to make sure I covered all areas in paint and left no traces of black.
For the inside of the lantern I had to hold the paint can closer than normal. There was no way to reach some of the small lines on the inside without getting close. When spray painting an object that close it causes the paint to build up quick. I had to spray the paint in quick short bursts to avoid the paint running. I highly recommend doing more than one coat at a time and allowing it to dry.
When painting the top of the lanterns I had to take my time because the paint kept running. To prevent lines I painted a light coat first, then let it dry and painted a second coat to cover the remaining black that was showing through. Due to the odd shape of the top I had to pick it up by hand to paint the entire thing. Just be careful and wash your hands right away and the paint will come off rather easily.
Once both pieces of each lantern were completely dry {I let them dry overnight} then you can put them back together with the plastic, candle and screws. They turned out perfect!
DIY Spray Painted Lanterns for Home Decor – Cost: less than $11.00 each
Supplies:
- Plastic Battery Operated Lanterns {$8-$10 each}
- Small Screw Driver {to take apart lanterns before painting}
- One can of spray paint {used Rust-Oleum $3.50 at Walmart}
Do you love doing home projects? What was your favorite item to re-purpose?
I love finding projects to do and crafting with my kids. Follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration!
It doesn’t get much easier than that, does it? I love how they came out.
Fab idea,I love lanterns like this and it is great to make them the color you need.
Sorry, off to find some used lanterns!
Seriously, I never really thought about what I could do with them. Wasn’t something I thought I needed but I could certainly see myself painting them something pretty.
What? It’s that easy? I always like the dark metal but it can be kind of dreary sometimes. Thanks for the tip on being careful about paint running when you’re working on the inside of the lantern.
These are adorable. What a cute decorating idea.
I’m glad you shared the brand of paint that’s been working so well for you. These came super duper cute!!!!
That seems easy to repaint those. I like the looks and the colors.
Wow I love the way these turned out. I never thought to do this and we actually have about 3-4 older rusty lanterns in the garage right now. They would look great spruced up like these.
The aqua lantern is so vibrant! You did a great job!
Such a pretty idea! I love that shade of blue you used.
These turned out very cute and cozy! I love the battery operated candles. We have a few of them.
Ohhhhhhh that blue! I love it!
I love looking at old lanterns. I love that the candles still go inside. Painting them to match your house just makes sense.
So cute!! I would not have thought to paint them. They look great!!
These are really nice..I will be looking for old lanterns at rummage sales. These are perfect for the patio.
those are pretty. I bought some iron and glass ones that I couldn’t take apart do they had to stay that color
These turned out great! I love them! You are so creative girl! 🙂
I love both of the colors that you used. My mom has a room that these would look perfect in! I’m thinking Christmas present here!
I never would have thought of doing this! So creative and I love it!
This is really creative! Great way to add some wow to the patio too!
I love getting crafty! Sadly, I live in an apt now so am limited in what I can do. This would be a great project if I had more space. Will fave and save!
the lanterns turned out great! So much better. It is amazing what a little spray paint can do
I love the blue color- perfect for summer!
It’s amazing what a little paint can do! I love the look of these and they make perfect decor.
I’ve been looking for some old lanterns to re purpose, but didn’t think to use one of the battery operated ones- so much cheaper than buying them already painted at Home Goods or Pottery Barn.
I’ve got a new love for spray paint. 🙂 Everything looks really good!
Very pretty! I made over some silver lanterns in black for our old backyard – lanterns are just so pretty! I love that blue.
I am so sad that I took all my old lanterns to goodwill a few years back. I hated how drab they looked- I should have just spray painted them!
I love the way they came out! That blue would be perfect on my porch!
When we move one of my first projects is creating a gorgeous outdoor space. I’m defintely going to use this!
They turned out so beautiful! I like how simple it was to repurpose them too!
These are really pretty. I used to have a cool lantern. I just realized, I have no idea what happened to it.
I LOVE using lanterns for home decor, I have a few. Mine are white and a turquoise color. Very cute. I never thought to actually buy real one’s and re purpose them.
Gosh, sometimes all it takes is a different hue to make something new again. I have a bunch of backyard lanterns – I’m going to spruce them up with some color!
Very nice! I am horrible at DIY, but this I think I could do!
Those are awesome! They would look great in my new vanity room I created for my blog! Thanks for the tips, I’m going to do this instead of buying them!
Those colors are so cute! Looks like an easy project to do too.
These look great! So simple and so cute!
I love these lanterns! They make such nice decorations.
You really made those lanterns look gorgeous. I love the idea of changing something boring to something gorgeous.