10 Ideas to Fill Your Lantern

Don't you just love lanterns! Such a great way to add a spot of seasonal decoration here and there. Sometimes you just don't want to go all out decorating for an occasion or holiday, but it's nice just to have a touch that's easy to decoration. More importantly, easy to take down! Here's ten quick and easy ideas for decorating lanterns. Halloween .....love, love, love Halloween. This lantern was created by using a tall 12" battery powered candle land two Mummy hands positioned around the candle. Creepy! Kids loved it! The topper was made of an assortment of ribbon, a bit of mesh and a bird nest filled with small skulls. The remote controlled candle makes this easy to turn off and on, or just set the timer. This was a small lantern and just the perfect sign for pastel Easter eggs. The lantern was topped with a colorful bow. Think we had some Easter grass in the bottom of the lantern too. Don't want to go all out decorating for Valentine? Me either! A small lantern filled with shiny red or pink hearts would send the right Valentine message. Just top off the lantern with a pretty red bow....one and done! This image was taken in a showroom just to use as inspiration for decorating a lantern. Assorted size candles are always easy to use this this lantern also had a bit of greenery and peony bloom. You could leave the candle, and just change out the bit of floral occasionally. Ivory or white candles are usually the best color choice since they can be used year round. Ivory, according to one of our suppliers is the most popular color. This lantern image was also taken in a showroom. Love the sloths! But the filler was simple chenille balls in an array of colors. Very festive for spring or summer. You could do the same thing with color yarn pom poms. This also is a showroom image of a rusty chicken wire lantern with just a lemon leaf spray. Love the see through look of the wire. No glass to worry about breaking! Farmhouse style isn't going away anytime soon. Another lantern showroom image. This lantern was partially filled with simple shiny ball ornament. Notice the tops of the ornaments are all turned away from the glass . You could use different size balls also. Using shiny balls and matte finish balls in the same color really compliment each other too. This lantern was shown on a mantel and the ball color brought out the rich reds in the ribbon and florals on the mantel. Love this tallish lantern. Choosing lanterns in natural woods or metal make them useful for decorating all year long. Candles candles candles....you can never have too many! If you use assorted sizes, use the same color candle and the same type if battery operated. Not all battery operated candles give off the same glow. So group like candles together. Leaving the door(s) open on the lantern also makes a nice touch when there is room to safely leave the door open. This image was taken in a showroom and isn't a lantern, but we wanted to use it for inspiration. Battery powered light strands and faux snow! How pretty is this! This design would work well with a lantern that opens from the top. Scatter some faux snow in and place your light strand. Then add more snow. Be sure to cover up your battery pack. Lanterns decorated this way would look great. You could also lay in a snowy branch or frosted pinecones or berries. A lantern is a perfect way to showcase a keepsake figurine or something like this whimsical elf. This was taken in the RAZ showroom. A glass paneled lantern would be a good show for showing off your prized possession. Large keepsake type ornaments would be pretty in a lantern too. You could fashion a see through (fishing line) hanger in the top of the lantern and let the ornament hang suspended. You could even hang one more at different levels depending on the size of the lantern and ornaments. Just find a safe place for the lantern afterwards so it doesn't get bumped)) Hobby Lobby is a great place to shop for lanterns. Just wait until they go on sale. Here's a few of my favorite styles. This lantern is a favorite because of it's simplicity. It's tall at almost 23" but only about 7" in length and width. It should on most mantels and really add some height to your decorating. The grey color is neutral so you could use it year round with any type of decorating. It's made of wood and glass. The glass panels give an unobstructed view of anything you might choose to put in the lantern. This is a small lantern at 14.5" in height and 6.75" in length and width. But it's also only $24.99 at regular price! Great size for coffee or end tables, night stands or spot on your kitchen counter that won't take up too much room. The bronze color again, makes it great for year round seasonal decorating and the glass panels are unobstructed. It's not that I don't like decorative scroll on lanterns, but sometimes simpler and just more versatile. Hobby Lobby does caution that if you use candles in this lantern, that you use the battery operated type only. This lantern represents a nice middle size at 17.5" in ht and 8" in length and width. It opens from the top! I like this feature since it gives the ability to place items down in the lantern like the faux snow and light strand. It's made of a wood material land has nice unobstructed glass panels. It also has a heavy jute cord for hanging. You can hang lanterns like this on your wall using a special wall hanger. The natural colors lends the lantern to year round decorating. Again, Hobby Lobby recommends that you only use battery operated candles. These are just some thoughts on lanterns.....can you tell we love decorating them))) Time to get my own lanterns out and start thinking about fall. Small white and orange pumpkins come to mind.....or a persimmon branch...or a cute shelf sitter .....so many options!