Upcycled Outdoor Light

Remember a ways back when I picked up an outdoor lantern at a garage sale?? Well, I have finally accomplished turning the lantern into that piece of art that I had envisioned for it!

Now that it is all together, I almost think that I should have gone with the white owl (so you could see it better??), but it just wasn't as cute as the little black and brown one :) Either way, I am proud of the end result and I just so happened to take pictures along the way to show you how you can up-cycle ANY old outdoor light. Or maybe even one of those tealight lanterns that seem to be the "in" thing these days.

So here we go!! As always, we start with the supplies.....



*not pictured* lantern, hot glue gun and wire cutters

Supplies:

• Lantern
• Spray paint (optional)
• Masking/Painters Tape
• Newspaper
• Floral Foam Piece
• Greenery (moss, flowers, etc)
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue
• Wire Cutters

To start with, I gutted out the lantern and removed all of its electrical components. Next, I wiped the lantern down with paper towels and glass cleaner to get all the outside grime off of it. Finally, since I am not too fond of gold (sorry to all you gold lovers out there), I covered the glass with leftover packing paper (newspaper works too) and taped it down with painters tape.

After all the windows were taped up, I found my little stepping stone in the yard and spray painted the gold away with a matte black. A couple coats and a few hours later, it was safe to remove the tape and the paper to reveal my new lantern!!

Not too bad.....

Moving on to the centerpiece, or focal point of the lantern. Of course, you can always do this part while the lantern is drying, but unfortunately, that is not how my creative mind operates. Just like with the oil container, I had to walk past the greenery parts of the project for a while before I finally had a vision.

To start, I cut a sliver (about half an inch) off the corners of the square floral foam since it didn't really fit in the hexagon bottom of the lantern.
Next, I used the wire cutters to cut down the stems of the floral pieces, leaving about 3-4 inches to push in to the floral foam. Then I added the bulk of the flowers and greenery towards the back, leaving space for my little owl I had :)




See how the corners are cut? And how most of the greenery is towards the back??

Now that I have pushed all the stems in, it is time to add the moss! Fake, of course!
Using my handy dandy hot glue gun, I added the moss along the top and the sides of the foam, trying to cover up the foam as best as I could. Annnnd, nobody is perfect, so with the extra flower and leaf pieces I had, I placed them where the foam was peeking out.

Using some pine cones for an extra touch (those are real!) and of course my little owl, the center of the lantern is finally complete! Being EXTRA careful, place the lantern over your finished project. Now you can always attach a permanent part, like a piece of board, underneath the centerpiece to glue to the lantern. However, I am thinking about making this something I can change with the seasons??? So I am leaving it open for now and just placing it in its new home, being careful with the bottom ;)