Easy DIY Halloween Lanterns for Outdoors

Every October, I get so excited for all the season of fun decorations! From fall to Christmas, it is festival of crafting, decorating, and general mayhem to enjoy every second of the season. But let’s focus on Halloween first, shall we?!

I wanted to get a little crafty one Halloween and dress up the front entry way. I’ve always loved the look of glowing Halloween lanterns with spooky faces, but worry about the problems with having them outdoors.

Supplies and Notes

Here is an overview of the supplies and materials you will need to make the luminaries. Links are included for examples.

• White Blank Corrugated Plastic (the kind you use for yard signs)
• Metal Stakes
• A thin X-acto knife or craft knife (must be very sharp!)
• Black Acrylic Paint made for outdoors
• Optional: Stencils and a Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Machine – I used these jack o’lantern stencils for my pumpkin lanterns.
• Flameless Candles – best if a few inches tall to light up the center of the luminary

How To Make Halloween Lanterns Step by Step

There are printable instructions at the bottom of this post, but I thought I would include a few tips as we go along.

Step 1: Cut the Plastic

I cut a razor tooth edging along the top of each lantern.

After deciding which side would be the front, I carefully cut only the outer layer of the corrugated board – aka don’t cut all the way through both sides. This allowed me to bend it around to form a box. I taped the edge with clear scotch tape to attached the two sides.

In case you are interested, my measurements for the front and back were 7 inches, and the sides are 3 inches each.

I built a witch’s potion shop theme for the front door, so I designed a set that says, “ENTER IF YOU DARE”, but on the backs are some simple and fun jack-o-lantern patterns that I purchased here. So you are sure to be greeted on Halloween no matter how you come to our house.

While you can use a sharpie, waterproof exterior paint will give you the best blackout and sharp lines. A sample can of exterior black paint from the hardware store or a small craft paint bottle is all you need.

Step 3: Set Up Outdoors.

I put 3 flameless candles in each Halloween Lantern to give them a good glow, but you could also use battery powered string lights like these.

Lastly, I couldn’t have these spooky guys flying away on me if a breeze came up! If you buy actual yard signs, you may be able to use the metal “H” stakes that come with them. However, I purchased these wire stakes to secure them in the ground. They are 9-guage steel, the same as the stakes that come with the signs and a perfect fit!

Quick Tips

• Instead of corrugated plastic, I have seen milk jugs, plastic jack o’lanterns, and actual glass lanterns used.
• Paint applied in 2-3 layers will give the best blackout for your design. I have not used a sharpie, so I would test first but I hear they are waterproof for this sort of design.
• These hold up great for years. I have used them for 3 years and they are in great shape. They have sat in rain, wind, and heat with no problem.
• Waterproof flameless candles that are a few inches taller work the best. I trim the wax around the top to get maximum glow.