I Interrupt this Painting to Bring you.........

I interrupt this painting to bring you........directions for a cute outdoor lantern. Warm summer weather is an ideal time to enjoy sitting outside on the deck or patio and enjoy this "mountain lantern". The following supplies will be needed to make the lantern pictured above:

- 1 two inch log slice. We had a storm knock down a tree, so I put the wood scraps to good use.
- 1 pint canning jar with lid
- 1 inexpensive solar patio light
- Wire - enough to make the handles
- Leather lace for making the hanger
- Few nails to attach the jar lid to the log

See the photos below and the instructions to follow for step by step directions to make your own mountain lantern.

The first step was to "slice" off a two inch slab of log. If you don't have access to a log, you could use a piece of 1 x 10 board cut into a square or circle and painted a color of your choice.

Using a drill, make a hole in the lid of the canning jar large enough to accommodate the size of the solar light. If you do not have a drill, you can punch holes in the lid with a nail and use tin snips to cut the hole.

I also drilled a hole in the center of the log slice to put the solar light. However, the light can be glued onto the log without the hole.

Place the the jar lid in the center of the log slice. Hammer the lid of the canning jar onto the log slice using three small nails.

Cut two pieces of wire long enough to cross over the top of the canning jar. Using a staple gun, staple the wire on one side and pull up and over the jar and staple to the opposite side. Repeat this for the other side of the handle. See photo below.

Assemble the lantern, placing the solar light inside and gluing in place, if needed. I used a piece of leather lace to tie onto the top of the lantern where the two wires intersect. This will hold the handles together at the top and also provide a loop for hanging.

The lantern puts out quite a bit of light and is definitely a cute addition to the deck.

Hope you enjoyed this interruption in the blog - until next time,

Happy Painting!
Karen