DIY Lanterns For The Autumn Evenings

•  Tin can
• Hammer and nail
• tea lights (or any small candle)
• Matte black paint and roller (optional)

Step 1: Begin by taking a tin, it can be any old food tin. Open it and either eat the food or pop it in a container and into the fridge for another night.

Step 2: Take the lid completely off and wash the tin out, then refill it with water and pop in the freezer over night or till frozen. Freezing it stops the can from bending or losing it's shape when your hammering the nail in.

Step 3: When frozen, take the tin out. I used the edge of the nail to draw out a shape first in the frost. Better safe than sorry haha! Then I just placed the nail on the can and and tap it into it with a hammer, I thought I'd have to use a lot of force because it was frozen but it was really easy and simple! 

The end! It's literally that simple, do a few more hearts (or whatever you would like to put on it) to finish it. Pop in a candle when it's dark and there you go! With Halloween coming up though I decided to make a themed one as well! You could hang it in the porch lit up and ready for the trick or treaters!

 Attempting to spell out boo. I would suggest using smaller letters or a can that's wider, maybe an empty paint tin? 

If you wanted to add more spook to your lantern paint it using a matte black paint I just bought a small tin from Wilkinsons. Be sure to lay out some newspaper beforehand!

Getting messy!

Finished product!

Stay tuned for more diys! They're so fun to do. 

Another tip, if your looking for a cute diy gift, you could personalise these with names etc or add some wire/ribbon to it and hang it from tree branches at partys? Don't forget when you light it though that metals conduct heat so don't touch it! Ouch.

If you try this out I wanna see pictures! You can tweet me or tag me on instagram, @hollieapples or leave a link to a blog post in the comments!