How to make beautiful pressed flower lanterns - Easy DIY

These pressed flower lanterns make the most perfect budget-friendly decor or outdoor lighting for weddings and chic summer parties.

There's something magical about this time of year don't you think? The vibrant shades of russet reds, tawny browns, amber and golden tones of nature make for a colourful transition from Summer to Autumn.

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Easy Paper Lanterns DIY

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Although the dark nights are already drawing in and the air is turning a little cooler, I for one am all for stretching out the time we have left of our 'outdoor living life' for as long as I can. Lights and lanterns are a great way of creating a cosy atmosphere and adding extra special light to your sitting area which in turn, will help you extend your evenings outdoors. Layer up with some cosy blankets to snuggle up under, sit back and take in the beauty of the season!

This year, we added some outdoor lighting to our garden. We placed spotlights under certain trees and grasses which really add an extra dimension to our garden after dark. To cash in on this effect, I thought it might be nice to hang some lanterns in the trees or add some around our sitting area.

Homemade Lanterns with pressed flowers

When our boys were little, we made lanterns every year in Autumn. It was one of the many crafts we all loved doing and of course, the outcome of it was always stunning. Seeing those homemade lanterns glow in a festival of Autumnal colours was always an added highlight to these spectacular Autumn days. Now that our boys are older and our lantern making tradition has long expired, I thought I'd have a go at creating an adult version of our Autumn lanterns.

I love that you can use dried and pressed flowers to make all sorts of crafts like these glass jar lanterns, or these pretty Mason jar luminaries.

Preserve Summer!

One of the best ways I know of to 'preserve summer' is by pressing flowers. The great thing is, you don't even need to have a garden, you can create these lanterns with wildflowers, curbside flowers or even various types of fallen leaves. Don't let the fact that you don't own a flower press put you off either, my DIY version below will work just as well.

Dried flowers would also work well with this lantern craft. Check out this amazing tutorial for drying flowers if you're not familiar with that technique.

If you don't want to go through the process of pressing your own flowers or you want to make this craft without waiting for flowers to dry out, you can always buy some ready pressed flowers. You can find a great selection of pressed flowers here on Etsy.

Go on a flower collecting expedition

Of course, if you have little ones, you can always try this craft out with them too (under supervision of course). Go on a flower collecting expedition together and show them how they can press the flowers themselves. I'm giving you fair warning though that this craft can be a little messy so if you don't want them wiping their gluey hands in their clothes, I'd recommend having them wear a crafting apron or some old clothes for this. We always kept a pile of old sweatshirts and trousers that the boys could wear for painting and crafting.

Here are some ideas for crafting aprons:    |   USA   |    D   |    UK   |

Exchange pressed flower lanterns for Jack-O-Lanterns!

When they were little, our boys loved to make these lanterns with orange transparent paper and decorate them to look like Jack-O-Lanterns. However you decide to make them, I guarantee your children's eyes will light up when they see what they've created and you will have made a harvest of wonderful memories too!

So, without further ado, let's get started with making:

Pressed Flower Lanterns

These pressed flower lanterns require a little preparation in advance.

The flowers will need to be pressed before you begin but don't worry, you don't necessarily need a flower press for this.

Pressing Flowers without a press

Space your flowers out between two pieces of absorbent kitchen paper and weigh the whole lot down with something heavy. In my case, I used a stack of magazines and books. I waited two weeks before checking them and then left them another week because they weren't quite ready.

The amount of time it takes for the flowers to dry out depends on the type of flowers you use. Thin-stemmed,  small flowers will take longer than thicker, larger flowers and stems. I used some thin meadow flowers and small ferns and as I said, it took around three weeks for them to dry out enough to use in this project.

Update: I recommend that you look at my step-by-step flower pressing tutorial before you start this project. The tutorial has lots of tips and tricks for beginners in flower pressing.

Microwave flower pressing

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For your convenience, this website contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to yourself however, it helps towards the costs of running this blog. Thanks so much for your support of Chalking Up Success! Please read my full disclosure here.

Tools you'll need to make paper lanterns

Balloons

Jute Twine

Transparent paper – I used white

Mod Podge or

Wallpaper glue

Pressed flowers or leaves

Bowl

Paintbrush

Somewhere to hang your lantern while it dries.

Silver crafting wire

Pliers for cutting wire

What glue should I use with pressed flowers?

I've been asked this question a lot since I made these paper lanterns so I thought I'd give you a few options.

You will need water-based glue that dries transparent. Any of these would be good:

Mod Podge

Elmers

PVA

Instructions for making tissue paper balloon lanterns

TIP: If you are doing this with children, bear in mind that the bigger the balloon, the longer it takes to cover with paper pieces. I would suggest keeping the balloon small in this case so that the project is finished quite quickly and the children don't get frustrated with endless glueing and pasting 😉

• First, blow up the balloon to the size you want your lantern to be and tie a knot in the neck.
• Draw a line around the top of the balloon which will help you identify where to stop adding paper to allow for the hole at the top where you will add the candle later. (Remember, you will also need to remove the balloon so the hole needs to be big enough for you to get your hand in comfortably). I placed my balloon onto a small flower pot and traced around that - no, I can't draw such perfect lines freehand!

• Take your transparent paper and rip it up into small squares of around 4cm x 4cm.

• Mix up a batch of wallpaper glue in a bowl according to the instructions on the box.

TIP: You may have to leave the paste mix for around half an hour so that the lumps dissolve and the paste takes up the water and becomes smooth so remember to calculate this time into your project. In other words, if you are doing this with little ones, don't call them to the crafting table until the paste is ready to use 😉

• Starting from the bottom use a paintbrush to cover a small section of the balloon with glue.
• Layer the paper squares on to the balloon overlapping slightly as you go and brush on more paste over the top of each piece. Work your way up to the line you drew earlier and stop there. Allow to dry.

TIP: If you need to pause the project or you are letting it dry overnight, wash out the paintbrush with cold water and cover the paste with some clingfilm. The paste will still be good for a couple of days like this.

• Add another layer of paper squares to the lantern working from bottom to top again as before.

• Now you can add the dried flowers, brushing a layer of glue over the top of each one. Allow to dry. (Depending upon which type of flowers you use, you may find it necessary to immediately add some paper squares over the top of the flowers to make sure they stay put).

• Finally, add another layer of paper squares over the top of the flower layer and allow to dry.

TIP: Any leftover paste should be scraped into the bin. Don't try to wash it down the sink unless you want to clog up your pipes!

• Using the needle, pop the balloon and remove it completely. You may need to scrape it a bit.

Hanging your pressed flower lanterns

Make rings for hanging

• Your pressed flower lanterns are almost finished. The very last step will be to make some rings for hanging. I used some silver craft wire to make mine. You just need to cut two small pieces of wire and push one end of each through the lantern on each side. Twist the wire to make a small ring.

• Tie some jute twine to the rings and make the handle as long as you need it to be. In my case, I wanted to hang these in the trees so I made my ties quite long.

Hang your paper mache lantern & Enjoy!

So, there you have it! Another beautiful and easy DIY. All that's left to do is to place a candle into your lantern, hang it up and enjoy your beautiful Autumn evenings under the harvest moon!

Swipe the instructions!

TIP TOP TIP! - The PDF instructions for these pressed flower lanterns have been added to my FREE subscriber library. The password is at the bottom of every newsletter I send out.

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More lantern inspiration

My friend Kippi of the blog Kippi At Home shows you how to make DIY Hanging Mason Jar Lights here.