Halloween Lantern Easy Craft

Spooky Pumpkin, Bat, Ghost, or Spider Candle Jar for Kids to Make

Oct 20, 2009

Halloween Lantern Looks Spooky at Night, Suzanne Pitner

This Halloween kids craft uses tissue paper, starch, and a jar to create a lantern with a spooky glow. It is a fast and easy project using recycled or new materials.

Halloween decorations with candles add a warm but spooky atmosphere to a table top or window. This simple craft gives off an eerie light, glowing through the eyes of a pumpkin, bat, ghost, or between the legs of a spider.

This kids craft is the perfect way to recycle old jars, use up scraps of tissue paper, and create a long lasting Halloween candle holder. It’s simple enough for young children to make, and impressive enough for older kids to want to make it.

Halloween Lantern Craft Items Needed

A glass jar. It can be a canning jar, a pickle jar, mayonnaise jar, or just about any jar.
Tissue paper in fall colors, cut into small pieces
Liquid fabric starch
Paintbrush
Halloween cutout in the shape of a pumpkin, bat, ghost, or spider

Paste the Tissue Paper on the Jar

Pour a small amount of liquid starch in a cup or saucer.
Dip a paintbrush in the starch and gently paste the tissue paper to the jar.
Alternate the colors and sizes of the pieces when pasting them on the jar to create a stained glass effect.
Cover the jar from top to bottom, slightly overlapping the top edge.

Add the Halloween Cutouts

Make a cutout design of a pumpkin, bat, ghost, or spider in black tissue paper.
Lay the Halloween cutouts on top of the tissue paper already pasted on the jar.
Lightly brush the liquid starch over the cutout to affix it to the jar.

If a stencil isn’t available, a pumpkin cutout is simple to make as well as a bat or ghost. Fold a black piece of tissue paper in half. Draw the shape of half of the pumpkin, bat, or ghost. Cut out the shape, keeping the folded side together. When unfolded, the Halloween cutout will only need the eyes and mouths added with scissors.

Let the Lantern Dry

Allow at least one to two hours for the lantern to dry.
Once the lantern is dry, a candle or glowstick may be placed inside.

The light from inside the jar has a ghastly glow when shining through the yellow and orange tissue paper. If a more long lasting product is desired, a coat of glossy varnish may be added. Allow varnish to dry for at least 24 hours.

Another craft idea for kids made with construction paper and string is the Halloween Lantern Wind Sock. This paper craft also has pumpkin cutouts or Halloween stencils to create a unique Halloween decoration. Another article shows how make a Halloween Treat Bag out of an envelope.

The copyright of the article Halloween Lantern Easy Craft in Holiday Kids Crafts is owned by Suzanne Pitner. Permission to republish Halloween Lantern Easy Craft in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.