Light up those dark and chilly fall nights with these beautiful and incredibly easy to make lanterns! Children will love heading outside to collect leaves and will be thrilled to watch wax paper and leaves transform into lanterns right before their very eyes.
We officially have a large collection of these lanterns in our home 😅 We LOVE making them because they are so easy to create, look beautiful, and the leaf colors stay vibrant in these lanterns. Give these a try if you are looking for a way to give your home a warm glow! You won’t be disappointed and will probably have a large collection soon enough.
Ready to give it a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..
Supplies:
-
- Leaves
- Wax paper
- Towel or ironing board
- Scissors or portable paper trimmer
- Tape
- Flameless candles
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Related: Check out STUNNING LEAF LANTERNS
Here’s How I Made these Simple Leaf Lanterns:
Step 1:
Gather your leaves. We headed outside in our own backyard for these leaves. We found leaves of all different colors, shapes and sizes for this activity.
Next, turn on your iron to a medium setting at this point.
Step 2:
Cut a large piece of wax paper, fold it in half to make a crease, and open it back up again. My whole piece is about 32 inches long.
Place your leaves on one half of the piece of wax paper.
Step 3:
Fold your piece of wax paper over the leaves. This doesn’t need to be perfect because you can always trim it up later.
Step 4:
As soon as your iron hits the wax paper, it will fuse together! It’s a neat process to observe. I quickly ran the iron over the wax paper several times, then I flipped it over and did the same thing on that side. Get out as many air bubbles as possible while ironing.
Step 5:
Now trim your paper to make it the height and width you would like. This is also when you can trim up those rough edges.
Step 6:
Roll your paper to make a cylinder and tape the lantern together where the edges meet.
Now choose how you would like to light your lantern. If you will be adding a string handle and want to carry the lantern, you can tape a flameless candle on the inside of the lantern as pictured below.
Or if the lantern will stay in one spot, just place the flameless tea candle on a table and place your lantern over it.
This looks beautiful during the day! I love the contrast of the vibrant colors of the leaves and the bright white lantern.
And the warm glow at night is so stunning!! They look beautiful by a pumpkin display or on the dinning room table! These would make a beautiful centerpiece for your Halloween decorations or your dinning room table for Thanksgiving!
Pin it and save it for later!
I hope you give this simple nature activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.
∼Tara
