Retire Your Old String Lights: Turn Toilet Paper Rolls And Fallen Leaves Into DIY Lanterns For Your Patio

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When looking to add a bit of light and ambiance to a patio, string lights do the job, but they're a bit boring. Especially once they get old, and half of the bulbs don't wor. If you'd like to retire your old string lights, there's an easy and cute DIY project that turns toilet paper rolls and fallen leaves into DIY lanterns.

The idea for this hack comes from Instagram creator @earth_and_sky_play, and it's beyond cute. The creator used old rolls of toilet paper to create miniature houses, and then added fallen leaves to cover them. Then, a simple LED tea light is enough to bring it to life. This is a fun autumnal DIY that you can totally do it with kids if you'd like. 

To do this hack, you need a few rolls of toilet paper. Each roll makes one "house", so keep as many rolls as you want lanterns. To create to roof, you'll need a bit of scrap cardboard. To cut and assemble the pieces, just use basic scissors and a bit of hot glue. To cover them with leaves, ModPodge will do the trick. As for leaves, look for ones outside that you like the color and veining of. You'll be cutting smaller pieces out of them anyway, so the shape doesn't matter. You can get all identical leaves, or mix and match colors. What matters most is that they're not completely dry yet, otherwise they'll break instead of sticking to the toilet paper roll. 

This DIY is a great way to decorate for fall without spending a dime. Start by cutting a triangle shape at the top of the toilet paper roll to create the roof base. Then, fold it in some places to cut squares into the cardboard, creating windows and doors all around it. Once you're happy with the shape, cover the roll with ModPodge, stick pieces of fallen leaves onto it, and add another layer of ModPodge. Leave alone to dry for 20 minutes.

When it's dry, cut a small rectangle of cardboard, fold it in half, and hot glue it on top of the triangle to act as the roof. For the light source, use something like this Nancia flameless LED tea light candle, and stick it into the circular base of the DIY miniature house. Of course, do not try this with real tea lights, since the cardboard is flammable. 

Place these throughout your patio for a bit of ambiance, but avoid any areas where it can be exposed to rain or wind, since cardboard is both lightweight and non waterproof. If you want it outdoors in the elements, place it inside of a mason jar to protect it. Or, you can use it indoors as stunning mantel decor instead. You can also swap leaves for paints to make this DIY work in different seasons, using Christmas colors that are on trend for some holiday cheer, or pastels for Easter.