Dollar Store Box Lantern

Looking for an elegant dollar store craft?

I made a beautiful and romantic lantern with materials almost completely obtained at the Dollar Tree.

I first did this some time back using the color theme of black and blue.

This time I did a white and silver themed one for the wedding contest over on the Dollar Store Crafts blog.

Materials:

4 picture frames 

Tissue Paper

Strong glue

Mod Podge 

Paint brush

The only thing not from the Dollar Tree is the Mod Podge.

The glue I used was a very strong glue I got somewhere else but hot glue would work also and that can be bought at many dollar stores.

For the wedding themed lantern I bought four 4x6 wood picture frames.

The only requirement on the frames is that the sides be as flat as possible because some need to be glued to the other frames. Otherwise size and color are totally up in the air.

Since I wanted silver I used white spray paint to prime the frames (after removing the glass of course!) then painted over with silver paint.

While the paint dried I used tissue paper I bought at the Dollar Tree and traced the glass onto it then cut out the squares.

Using a paint brush I brushed the Mod Podge onto the glass and carefully applied the tissue paper to it.

I set those aside and glued the frames together into a square.

 Once dry I put the glass back into the frames but left off the backing for the frames.

Now just put a candle or two in the middle and you have an elegant and crafty table center piece.

Lighted by a couple tea light candles

Lighted with a medium sized jar candle

If you want a bottom I would consider using one of the mirrors you can also buy at Dollar Tree. Just glue it on securely.

Depending on the frame you use you might also be able to drill holes into the frame to run thin wire or string through to hang the lantern.

Since more Dollar Tree stores are carrying ribbon you could use ribbon run through the top of the picture window to hang the lantern.

While currently we are deep into the summer wedding season, if you are planning a winter wedding I have also seen sturdy plastic snowflakes at the Dollar Tree and short lengths of battery operated Christmas lights. This idea would look great with the snowflake as the bottom and the light string providing safe, flame free light.

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