Do you have a tattered outdoor lantern that you're no longer using? Here's a budget-friendly idea for how to turn it into a fun recycled metal candle lantern for Halloween. Everything you need to make it can be found in your Halloween decoration bin or from the dollar store.

Recycled Metal DIY Halloween Lantern Idea

The motivation for creating a spooktacular Halloween lantern is our Int'l Bloggers Club challenge because the theme this month is Halloween.

The inspiration came from an old outdoor garden lantern in our backyard that had seen its better days. But first, I need to figure out how to pry the melted flameless wax candle from the base.

If you haven't heard of the Int'l Bloggers Club, we are a group of friends from around the globe who come together every month to share a themed DIY project.

We have members from Spain, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada. I'm from a hamlet east of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, situated about a 4-5 hour drive from both Jasper National Park and Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies.

For our iron challenge this summer, I repurposed a wine barrel stave and wrought iron door knocker into a unique hanging flower planter for our gate. I've included links to everyone's Halloween ideas further down in the post.

Pictured below is the recycled metal Halloween lantern during daylight hours.

And this is what the spooktacular lantern looks like illuminated in the evening hours.

What You'll Need To Make It

These are the supplies I used to make the outdoor Halloween lantern. Missing is the strand of mini purple fairy lights and some plastic spiders that I found at the dollar store.

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommended for this project. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Supply List

Metal Lantern (salvaged)
Black Spray Paint
Witch Hat Fascinator
Plastic Spiders (dollar store)
Mini Foam Pumpkins (dollar store)
Mini Witch Broom (alternatives)
Natural Raffia Ribbon
Orange Netting (salvaged from mini pumpkins)
Halloween Ribbons (alternatives)
Purple Mini Fairy Lights
Flameless Candle With Timer
Small Wood Dowling

How To Make The Halloween Lantern

Here are the deets on how to recycle an old metal candle lantern for Halloween.

Step One - Paint An Old Lantern

First, remove the glass panels from the metal lantern. But don't wash the glass like I did; the dirt and cobwebs add to the spooky charm!

Take the lantern outside and paint it with a couple coats of black spray paint. While the paint dries we'll move on to making some of the spooky Halloween elements.

Step Two - Make A Large Loopy Bow

Make a large loopy bow to hang on the lantern with three spools of assorted wired ribbon. I can't make a bow if my life depended on it so I cheat and use this handy bow maker tool.

Step Three - How To Make A Miniature Witch Broom

To make a witch broom embellish the bow, cut a small wood dowel to size and paint it black and orange. Wrap a natural raffia ribbon around your fingers and tie it towards the top with more raffia (much like how to make tassels).

Attach the raffia to the dowel with a hot glue gun. Cut the raffia loops with sharp scissors and you're done.

Step Four - Spooky Alternative For Lantern Candle

There's nothing spooky about a white flameless candle on a timer so I wrapped purple mini fairy lights around it and tucked the battery compartment to the back. Alternatively, use an orange, purple, or black flameless candle with a timer.

Next, wrapped the candle with netting salvaged from a bag of real mini pumpkins from the grocery store. To add to the creepiness, attach plastic spiders to the netting.

Step Five - Halloween Lantern Assembly

Fill the bottom of the DIY Halloween lantern with the same raffia ribbon used to make the broom. Set the timer on the flameless candle for dusk and set it on top of the raffia and close the lid for set and forget evening illumination.

Wire the loopy bow and miniature witches broom onto the handle of the lantern. Last but not least, slip a dollar store witch's hat fascinator into a hole at the top of the lantern lid or wire it on.

DIY Halloween Lantern Vignette

Create a Halloween vignette around the pumpkin with painted mini dollar store pumpkins. I have some tips for painting dollar-store pumpkins. To add depth to the colors, rub dark wax over them with a lint-free rag.

Set the lantern and pumpkins on top of a piece of hardboard painted with black chalkboard paint. To add more moodiness to the Halloween vignette, lean another chalkboard behind to cast an orange and purple glow from the mini lights and candle.

Make a mini banner with chalkboard tags found at the dollar store and hang them with mini orange clothespins from twine. Super cheap and easy peasy.

That's it! If you don't have an old lantern you could recycle, the dollar store sells inexpensive metal lanterns that you use. This is all about creating inexpensive Halloween decor.

Here's another idea for Halloween recycling a figurine display shelf from the dollar store into a spooky Halloween miniature.

Thanks for stopping by the Interior Frugalista today! I hope you were inspired by this recycled metal candle lantern for Halloween.

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If you enjoyed this DIY Halloween lantern idea, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your favorite board on Pinterest.

Now let's see what fun ideas my friends had for their Halloween projects.