Light Up Your Home This Fall With An Adorable Milk Carton Lantern

As temperatures begin to drop in the fall each year, many of us look for ways to make our homes cozier. Whether by adding more throw blankets or starting a fire in the fireplace, when changing over our houses from summer to fall, we want them to feel warmer and more comfortable. Well, there's a simple way to add cozy vibes into your home, and it's by DIYing a lantern out of an empty milk carton. To complete this project, you'll cut out parts of the carton, cover the openings with tissue paper, and place a flameless candle or battery-operated string lights inside.

Before you start deconstructing your milk carton, decide what color and pattern of tissue paper you want to include. This is what can make your piece look like it's fit for fall. While you could use tissue paper in plain fall colors like orange or red, you can also choose to use sheets with a pumpkin design or autumn florals (available on Amazon). This could also be a cheap and easy DIY Halloween decoration by choosing tissue paper that displays ghosts, bats, spiders, or jack-o-lanterns (which you could purchase at Walmart). If you already have some plain tissue paper on-hand, try painting or drawing designs on it. Or, you could add cut-out pieces of construction paper onto your lantern to spell out "FALL" or display a jack-o-lantern's face. Once you've decided how you want to decorate it, rinse out the milk carton and let it dry.

To begin, open up the top of the carton, cut along one of the seams, cut out the cap portion, and remove the bottom — put this aside, don't throw it away. Next, either paint the outside of the lantern or cover it with construction paper adhered with a glue stick. Also paint or cover both sides of the bottom of the carton that was removed. Cut out rectangular panels on each of the four sides. It may be easiest to draw these panels with a marker and ruler before you start cutting.

With the frame completed, glue the tissue paper onto the inside edge of each of the panels. If you also want to add additional construction paper decorations, attach those behind the tissue paper. Glue the lantern closed and seal the top with glue or staples. Place the bottom of the carton horizontally along the top edge. Finally, put your source of light underneath the lantern. If you're not sure where to place your lantern, this could be a great way to make your fall mantel ridiculously cozy.

There's also a similar alternative way to complete this lantern DIY. Instead of cutting the carton open and removing the bottom, just cut off the top from where it begins bending into a triangle shape. Once you've completed the project, hang the piece by punching two holes in opposite sides of the top edge of the lantern and string ribbon or wire through. Your source of light will sit on the base of the carton.