Reuse Old Tea Bags To Make Beautiful Bespoke Lanterns For Your Home

It's second nature ... you finish a teabag and throw it away, never thinking twice about what other uses it could serve. Because, why would you? After all, once it's steeped and soggy, what other purpose could it possibly serve? 

What if you could transform your used teabags into bespoke lanterns that would normally cost a good chunk of change from a novelty shop or online boutique? It isn't even a complicated process. You only need to take a few moments to clean off the tea from your bags and add some glue, decor, and borders to create these whimsical lights. If you're wanting to bring a softer aesthetic into your home with a touch of nature infused into it, these lanterns are a great way to elevate your space with minimal spends and only a few supplies. From creating your own Cottagecore decor to bringing the outdoors indoors with Forestcore, these DIY lights bring all the vibes and are a great way to repurpose teabags around your home.

You can create this craft as soon as you've steeped a few tea bags: you will need at least eight bags total if you want to create a sturdy "screen" that can also hold your decorative additions. After you've removed your bags from your hot water, let them cool before gently opening them up. Do this over a plate or the sink to avoid a big mess when the tea leaves come out. Rinse away the actual leaves and remnants before placing your bags (now a sheet of paper) onto a non-stick, flat surface.

Once you've laid out all of your tea bags, brush a layer of glue over each one. Next, place your decorative pieces on top of the paper and adhesive. These can be anything from dried flowers and leaves to glitter or even small polaroids or photos. These last options will be trial and error, because if the tea bags aren't very translucent, certain images may be too dark to show through, especially when the faux tea light candle is inside, so it might be ideal to stick to thinner materials. Add your second tea sheet on top of your decorative inserts, then brush on another layer of glue to secure. Allow these to dry fully while you focus on your lantern's structure.

The fun part of these magical lights is that you can use whatever you want to hold the paper inserts. While wooden dowels from Dollar Tree or Walmart will work, why not get creative and find some sticks outside that you can cut to similar height? These don't need to be super thick, or for a more rugged finish, glue smaller mini wood logs from Amazon together, then attach these to your tea bag sheets. Once you've picked your wood, just glue two long pieces onto the longer sides of your lantern sheets (cutting them if needed to the same height as the paper). Adhere shorter wood pieces to the top and bottom for extra support. You will be left with four framed screens, which you will then glue together in a rectangle. Your lantern is complete and you can add in a faux tea light candle to illuminate it!