Simple Farmhouse Lantern DIY

If you’re like me, you love a pretty farmhouse style lantern, but not the price!! I have several lanterns in my decor, and I’d love to add another, but on the cheap AND with what I have on hand. Let’s see what I have to create this simple farmhouse lantern DIY!!

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What I’m using…

I have two of the Woodpile brand shadowboxes that I received from a friend. I think they’ll work perfectly for this project, but clearance signs of the same size would work too. I’m going to stain this project, so the raw wood of the shadowboxes is perfect!! I’ll be using 20 mm wood beads (I use these), 52 to be exact!! I’m also pulling 4 wood skewers from my stash, along with a scrap piece of wood measuring 5 3/4″ X 4 3/4″, and finally a wood finial from Hobby Lobby.

Let’s get started!!

The very first thing I want to do is stain EVERYTHING!! I’m using my favorite, Minwax Espresso. I think this project would be pretty leaving everything natural as well!!

Once everything is stained and dry, I’ll snip off the very ends of my skewers, making sure they remain the same length.

Next, load 13 wood beads onto a skewer and hot glue it into one corner of a shadowbox.

The bottom bead should sit right on top of the shadowbox side, just like you see above. Depending on the frame or shadowbox you use, you make need to adjust the number of beads you use. You’ll just want to be sure to leave space at the top and bottom of the skewer to be glued.

Now that all 4 skewers are set, we are ready to add the top, following the same process.

When the top is secure we will stain and glue the scrap piece of wood to the top in order to add some height. I’m using wood glue and hot glue to attach.

Lastly, no lantern is complete without a finial!! I picked this one up on the wood aisle at Hobby Lobby!! We’ll add some stain and attach with wood glue.

Finishing touches…

Now that the lantern is all assembled, I feel like it needs to be “softened” a bit by simply adding some dry brushed chalk paint.

I was a little heavier handed in some areas, but I like the final result. Baby wipes are great to have on hand during this process because if you add more paint than you’d like you can just wipe off the excess.

I’m using some of my favorite greenery and a candle to fill. I just LOVE the color of the greenery against the lantern!! It also goes perfectly with this spring DIY!! What do you think?? Be sure and let me know if you give this simple farmhouse lantern a try!!

Angela