Lanterns

It's vacation week and I'm not traveling. Rather, I'm home catching up and crafting. Pure bliss for this lady.

One day I took a trip to my favorite HHH and the Dollar Tree. Incidentally, HHH is Home Depot, Hobby Lobby and Harbor Freight. The hours of crafting in this little pile should keep me out of trouble for a minute or two.

First project was the frames. The brown ones on top are a little smaller than the black ones.

First order of business was to disassemble them all. Wrappings and backings all went into the trash.

The glass was removed and safely stowed on the kitchen counter in a pile. Where else would you store plates of glass? My family does put up with a little bit from me I think.

I made some of these earlier and actually used the brad nailer to put them together. However, the frames at the Dollar Tree have gotten even cheaper in quality if that's possible. One smack with a brad nail and the thing might not make it. So I took to E6000 glue and started gluing sides together, two pieces at a time. After they were dry, I attached both pieces together to make a box.

(Please ignore the sawdust in the photo below.)

Next stop was to attach a bottom to each of the squares. I didn't take a photo of this process. Sorry about that.

I have used left over fence board or any kind wood that is wide enough for the base.

This time I went to Home Depot (see ... I really am a fan!) and looked through their 70% pile. There was a leftover piece of board there of a kind I've never used before but figured it would work. It came home with me, got cut into appropriate sizes and was attached to the bottoms of the squares. This was another job for the E6000. Next up was spray paint. White paint layer after layer.

No lantern is complete with a top, right?

Whatever kind of wood you've got works just fine! The top is actually a triple layer. The middle layer sits on the top of the lantern square. The smaller piece on top probably doesn't need to be there but certainly adds. 

When I did the original one using this link and this one from Pinterest, my goal was to have the tops close using tiny itty bitty hinges. Tiny itty bitty hinges going into a frame from the Dollar Tree. Not really a math equation that adds up well. My hubby is just the smartest person out there. Sometimes I get a little stubborn about the way I want things done, but if I'm smart ... I listen to him. He is the reason for the bottom part of this 3 piece top. It is cut to fit directly inside the square and keep the top in place without sliding off. And no hinges needed!

Being as these pieces were all the real deal wood ... I used wood glue to put them together and clamped them overnite. Now that would have been the other smart person's idea. My dad. He was here when I was going to brad nail them together. Saved hauling out air compressors with his idea! I'm seriously surrounded by smart guys.

Because I sometimes use less than premium wood and am not a finish carpenter ... there is caulk. I now know how to watch the edge of the blade on the chop saw so I know exactly where the cut will be, but goodness! I still use wood that may be a bit distorted. After the pieces were all where they were suppose to be ... the seams that needed it were give a bit of caulk to clean them up.

Following the caulking session came a bit of sanding and another spray paint session. By then it was getting rather dark outside so I hope I managed to cover up everything that needed covering!

Next up was glass knobs for the top of each lantern. I kind of like the glass ones for these projects. Checked Hobby Lobby online to find out if knobs are on sale this week and found it was my lucky day! Off to Hobby Lobby I went and came home with a few. (Hint: there is rarely any reason to pay full price for anything at Hobby Lobby ... although I really do enjoy supporting their business.)

Holes were drilled nearly through all 3 layers of the top. Knobs were threaded on and the tops were done!

Now for the glass. Note: these will not be conducive to candle burning. Please do NOT try that. I want glass on these so I can fill at least some of them with winter scenes .. complete with fake fluffy snow. Glass pieces were cleaned and attached back to the places I originally took them out of using some hot glue. A bead of hot glue on the frame in several places and plop the glass in very carefully. 

Four of them are done and ready for filling!

Spray paint takes a bit longer to really cure and dry than does regular paint. The main reason (other than cost) I rarely use it ... I like things done quickly. I've taken the tops off to let them cure, but this gives you an idea of possibilities for the inside. When my mom was in town, she went home with one of the first ones I did. She placed a small fake succulent in it and it looks darling.

These will be filled with removable winter scenes .. I can't wait to share those with you!

As a teaser ... I found piano wire ...