DIY Fairy Light Lantern

Learn how to make a DIY fairy light lantern for any outdoor space in your home. It’s a quick and easy craft project for summer.

Love easy craft projects? Try making this faux fern arrangement, this easy DIY air plant wreath, or this pretty fresh eucalyptus wreath.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. For more information, see my disclosures here.

One of the best things about summer is that you can be outside pretty much all day long. I love sitting outside on our porch during summer nights. It’s fun to relax as the sun starts to go down.

In the past, we’ve had a variety of outdoor lights on our porch. But this year, I wanted something a little more simple that also looked stylish.

I had the idea to create a fairy light lantern when I was wandering around a craft store one day. I saw this set of fairy lights on sale and I knew they would be perfect for our porch.

When I got home, I didn’t love how they looked just strung along the railing. So I decided to use them in a different way and create a unique outdoor light that doubles as a decoration.

This DIY fairy light lantern was super easy to pull together. It’s the ultimate easy craft project!

Let me show you how to make it.

How to Make a DIY Fairy Light Lantern

Materials:

• Terrarium, Lantern, or Glass Container
• White Stones Vase Filler
• Fairy Lights
• Clear Tape
• 3M Strip

First, you will need to find a container. I found this terrarium and I loved its shape. It sort of looks like a lantern, but it’s also a little more modern.

You can use just about any glass container for this project. Lanterns also look pretty, but even a glass jar will work.

Next, you will need to fill the container with vase filler. I chose these white crushed stones. They are a bright white and look really pretty in the gold lantern terrarium.

If you don’t love the look of stones, you could use sand or even marbles. And you don’t have to go crazy here. In my opinion, a simple vase filler looks the best.

PS: The dollar store is a great place to find different vase fillers.

I filled my lantern terrarium up about ⅓ of the way with vase filler.

What are Fairy Lights?

Next, you will need a set of battery powered fairy lights.

If you aren’t familiar with fairy lights, they are basically just string lights. But fairy lights are a lot less bulky.

The actual lights are super small. They are strung on this thin wire that is super bendable.

Fairy lights are used for decoration and are perfect for craft projects.

This set that I found runs on batteries which is perfect for my lantern terrarium.

To get the fairy lights into the lantern terrarium, I first wrapped the strand around my hand a few times. This helped to bunch all of the lights together so they would fit better.

Then, I placed the bunch of lights into the lantern terrarium. Once it was in place, I bent the wire of the fairy lights to spread out the strand evenly inside the lantern terrarium. I wanted the container to look like it was filled evenly with fairy lights.

After the lights were evenly spread out, I ran the end of the wire (the part connected to the battery pack) up one of the back corners of the lantern terrarium.

Then, I bent the wire over the edge and down the outside of the lantern terrarium.

The goal was to make the wire leading to the battery back as invisible as possible. So, I tried to lead it along the edges of the lantern terrarium so it would blend in.

To hold the wire in place along the outside corner of the lantern terrarium, I just used a few pieces of clear tape. I ran the wire all the way down the side of the lantern terrarium and used more clear tape to hold everything in place.

Next, it was time to hide that battery pack. Originally, I wanted to bury the battery pack under the rocks. But, the difficulty was that I still needed to access the battery pack in order to turn the fairy lights on and off.

So, the battery pack needed to stay on the outside. I decided that it would be best to attach it to the back of the lantern terrarium hidden behind the vase filler.

I grabbed one small 3M strip and attached it to the battery pack.

Then, I stuck the battery pack to the back of the lantern terrarium. The rock vase filler was just about the same height as the battery pack. So from the front, you can hardly tell that it’s there.

See, it’s almost invisible!

I think that this DIY fairy light lantern turned out so well! I love how simple it is while also being a really interesting decoration.

It’s perfect to bring out on your porch for a lazy summer night.

I can’t wait to spend some more time on our porch this summer. This little lantern will create the perfect atmosphere.

If you decide to make this DIY fairy light lantern, please let me know in the comments. I would love to hear what materials you use to create your own unique looking lantern.

And, I would love to see pictures. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @keystoinspiration.

I hope that you have a great week!