Craft ideas

Making Halloween lanterns out of plastic bottles – ideas and instructions

Are you looking for a change from the classic Jack O Lantern pumpkin? Maybe you want to include the youngest children as well? Why not do something good for nature? After all, pumpkins carved or painted with spray paint can no longer be eaten and must end up in the trash after the horror festival. However, while the large orange-colored fruits have completely decomposed after a few weeks, plastic bottles and other disposable plastic products take many decades to do so. So instead of generating even more rubbish, we suggest you give free rein to your creativity and make Halloween lanterns out of plastic bottles. In the next few lines you will find lots of inspiration in the form of creative photos and easy-to-use instructions. Halloween lantern handicrafts from plastic bottles is indeed so easy and fast that even toddlers and kindergarten teachers can participate.

Plastic bottles filled with cotton wool mimic ghosts quite well, don’t they?

A cool idea for your Halloween buffet

Instead of just painting the bottles, you can also use such paper cut-outs

Here are a more detailed guide

The brushstrokes light up nicely in the dark

Make simple mummy lanterns out of plastic bottles without cutting

If you want to design pretty decorations and fun toys with very small hobbyists, sharp or hot tools are taboo for safety reasons. Fortunately, you don’t need scissors, craft knives, or hot melt glue at all for this project. All you have to do is buy a plastic bottle, some gauze bandage, two big googly eyes, a glue stick and an LED light chain. If you want, you can cut a round mouth out of black paper in advance. Despite the harmless handicraft materials, you should not let your children do handicrafts unsupervised.

Every child can make these funny mummies

Start tinkering your lantern by wrapping the entire water bottle tightly with the gauze bandage. Then pinch the end between each layer. Next, glue the eyes and mouth with the glue stick. Finally, remove the bottle cap and insert the LED light chain. If this causes your plastic bottle to fall over, just put a few stones in it. Then when it gets dark, turn on the lights inside and tell creepy stories of mummies and ghosts.

Children’s scissors like this one avoid unpleasant breakdowns

A couple of spiders add an extra creepy effect

Make lanterns out of plastic bottles with little surprises

These little Jack O pumpkin lanterns can be filled and are therefore ideal as gift boxes, and of course also serve as great decorations throughout the autumn season. In this handicraft project, however, scissors are definitely used, and plastic bottles are also quite tricky to cut. So it is only intended for children, adolescents and adults who can already use this tool without any problems.

In addition to scissors, you also need a large plastic bottle, a hole punch, acrylic paints and brushes, craft glue, markers, rubber band, some felt and an LED tea light.

You can find all of these craft supplies at your local craft store or online

Your finished lanterns might look something like this

At the beginning, put a rubber band around the narrow part of the bottom of the bottle. Then draw a line about 4-5 cm above the elastic band and cut it along. Next, draw five evenly spaced vertical lines up to the elastic band and cut along them again. Remove the sharp corners until you have five small petal-like flaps. Also take off the elastic band.

Some bottles have lines in the design that are of great help in crafting

You can easily melt sharp corners with a lighter

Now use your hole punch to punch a small hole in the base of each cut – this will make it easier to fold up later. To close the jack-o-lantern, all you need to do is fold each petal down toward the center.

The lantern holds its shape when folded

Now all you have to do is paint it. To do this, spray a little acrylic paint into the bottle and paint the inside. Depending on the color you choose, you may need two or more coats. Always let your lantern dry well between each coat of paint. But do not use a hair dryer as the hot air can deform the plastic. Additionally, if you want, you can paint a creepy, smiling Jack O Lantern face on the outside.

Choose colors that you like

To make the pumpkin stem, roll up a small strip of felt, glue it together, and then on one of the flaps. By the way, you can use a real one instead of felt. Finally, place a small LED tea light inside the jack-o-lantern and seal it. complete!

Surprise your children and guests with these gift boxes made of plastic bottles

Halloween lanterns making out of plastic bottles not only protects the environment by reducing waste, but can also entertain young and old for hours. Scroll to the bottom of our gallery for even more inspiration, then grab the next empty plastic bottle and let your imagination run wild.