Turn Old Glass Jars Into The Cutest Fall Lanterns With A DIY

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Ahhhhh, fall. If only there were a way to save the essence of autumn in a jar — the fallen leaves and plump pumpkins, the glow of the street lights in the night air, the whimsical fun of Halloween night. For DIYers like you, such a wish isn't a far-fetched fantasy; it's a reality you can create right at your craft table with just a few raw materials. You'll need a jar, of course, and a few other items that'll help you reproduce the aesthetics of fall in three-dimensional form: a handful of twigs, the makings of a friendly spirit, and a stand-in for ground covering. And because there's nothing quite like the glow of an autumn night, we'll add some string lights to turn the fall-evening-in-a jar into the cutest lantern to light your way during the cold months ahead.

In some ways, this jar DIY is like a fall-inspired snow globe minus the liquid. That is, the inside of your lantern is going to be home to a fall scene. As such, you'll want a jar that's large enough to hold some props. You can repurpose an old glass jar for this if you have one (a large pickle or Mason jar ought to work). You'll also need a marker, some green and brown fuzzy yarn (like Makromecity Fuzzy Fun Fur Yarn), and a string of fairy lights. The craft additionally calls for a small piece of foil, a square of white cotton cloth, some craft glue (like Mod Podge), some thin wire, a fruit skewer, and a piece of cardboard. Like many craft projects, this one will require a glue gun, a pair of scissors, and possibly some twig cutters.

Begin by removing the label from the glass jar and washing it thoroughly. Since the fall lantern will house a scene, the glass should be as clear as possible. Next, cut some small twigs an inch or two shorter than the inside of the jar. (You'll be making a miniature tree out of these, so cut the branches with that in mind.) Once that's done, glue the twigs to the inside of the jar's lid, shaping your tree out of the sticks as you go.

You'll add some mossy ground cover around the base of the tree, a detail which you'll make from snippets of the fuzzy yarn. Or, if you don't like that option, you could use a crafting moss in place of the yarn. Now you'll give your tree a ghostly friend to keep it from feeling lonely. You'll make this by rolling some foil into a ball, mounting the ball onto a skewer, and then sticking the skewer into the piece of scrap cardboard. Follow that by soaking a small piece of cotton fabric in a mixture of craft glue and water. Drape the glue-soaked cloth over the foil ball and shape it into a ghost. Allow that to dry. Once it does, you can draw eyes on it.

Finally, cut a piece of thin wire and attach it to the ghost's head with glue from the glue gun. Wrap the wire around the branches of the tree, and then add the string lights. Turn on the lights and place the jar over the lid. Your lantern is now ready to go in a place of honor where you can show it off, like a fireplace mantel.

The fun thing about a lantern craft like this is that the season has so many visual themes that all fit under the umbrella of autumn. The friendly ghost represents a pivotal visual icon of the season, but it's certainly not the only one. There are myriad fall-themed scenes that would look so sweet in your lantern. 

Let's start with capturing a scene that you might have grown up with — a tire swing hanging from a tree with a bed of fallen leaves below it. To make this scene, you'll replace the ghost with a small tire attached to one of the tree's branches with a rope made of jute twine. And not to worry, making the tiny leaves is simpler than it might seem. You just need to use a leaf hole punch to cut leaf-shaped bits out of colored paper.

Capturing some of autumn's most iconic fruits offers another cute visual for the lamp's interior. Fortunately, this will be easy to create now that the miniatures craze has hit the crafting world. For example, it's now easy to find dollhouse-sized baskets of apples. Once you have your tiny apples, place the miniature basket filled with them on the bed of leaves with a few loose apples all around it for good measure. If apples aren't your thing, it'd be just as easy to decorate the lantern's leaf-covered floor with pumpkins, gourds, small cornstalks, or any other cute fall ephemera that strikes your fancy.