This DIY upcycled Christmas tree lantern was an easy project that repurposed an old light into a great piece of decor for the holidays!
When we were getting ready for our fall yard sale, Matt grabbed this light that we have had for a long time. He was going to put it in the free box at the yard sale. I immediately saw something we could do with it and told him to just put it away until after the sale.
Isn’t it funny how you can have something in your garage for a long time and not use it and then you bring it out as you are cleaning and immediately see a use for it?
That happens to me a lot.
Once the sale was over, I was excited to get started on this project and see if we could make it work. In particular, if Matt could figure out the logistics and I could figure out the “pretty” part.
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Supplies Used:
Christmas Tree (bottle brush trees or any little tree that will fit)
Wood For Base
I am just going to share the simple steps of putting this together. I put a full video together of the process that will show it more in-depth. The video is below.
- Clean the light fixture well.
- Take the light fixture apart.
- Spray paint the light fixture.
- Create a simple box for the lantern to sit on and hide the twinkle lights battery pack. (Click HERE for a simple how-to video for creating a box.)
- Stain the box.
- Drill a hole in the box and attach the base of the light fixture.
- Drill a larger hole in the socket and attach it to the base.
- Feed twinkle lights up from the bottom.
- We used painter’s tape to hold the battery pack in place.
- Hot glue base of the tree to the socket.
- Put the twinkle lights around the tree.
- Reattach cage to the base.
Process of Putting Together The DIY Upcycled Christmas Tree Lantern
Once the light fixture was spray painted, Matt started taking apart the light and figuring out which parts he needed and which he didn’t for the project to work. For example, we knew we would need to create a base for the lantern to sit on a hide the battery pack for the lights. Matt used this simple tutorial for creating the box. He used a dark walnut stain once the box was put together.
We wanted to keep the enamel piece that was in the light fixture (because it looked cool still in the fixture). Not to mention that it made a nice stand for the tree to be on.
He used hot glue to adhere the bottom of the Christmas tree to that enamel piece.
Once the lights were around the tree, it was time to put the “cage” back on the base.
Here is a video showing you how Matt put this together:
This project was simple. But even so, it took some figuring out how to make it work, but once we did, it was easy going.
I am so happy with this little guy! He will definitely be a staple in our holiday decor! It would be cute to do a collection of these!
Would you try this project?
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If you liked this DIY Upcycled Christmas Tree Lantern, you will love these holidays projects as well:
DIY Wood Bead Wreath For The Holidays