A Halloween Lantern That is Easy and Kid Friendly

Here is a really simple and kid friendly Halloween Lantern. The problem with most Halloween lanterns you see on YouTube is there actually 1 trick ponies. You make it once and that’s all you’ve got. This Lantern however features interchangeable panels that are easy to make and easy to change. This project is so easy that all you need to do this chop up a piece of wood put in some grooves add a back and cut out the front and you’re ready to go. The true beauty of this project is that it is really kid friendly. You can nail this together, screw it together, or even just glue it. Now the kids can participate in the assembly and they’ll have fun doing it. And as far as the panel If you use wood the kids could cut it out on a scroll saw which is very very safe or you can use cardboard and have them cut the design out in the cardboard. You can even create a frame and have the kids cut out their designs in heavy construction paper then glue it on. This is so easy and so fun the kids can make a new one every night and put it on display. So if you have grandkids or kids this might be the perfect project for tomorrow night.

Tools and Materials

This project doesn’t take a lot of materials. I started with a single fence picket. I also had a couple pieces of quarter inch plywood for the back. For the one I completed here I use cardboard and cut it out with a box cutter.

PLANS

Cutting To Length

First up in making this whole project is to cut all the pieces to length. You could do that on a table saw, a radial arm saw, or a compound miter saw. This is so easy you can even use a hand saw.

Cutting Rabbets and Dados

With that done you need to cut the rabbits and dados so the rabbets are for the back to fit in so you don’t actually need to do that. You could just nail the back on. But you will need to make the grooves or the dados so you can slip in the panels. These are really nothing more than 1/4 inch wide by 1/4 inch deep grooves in each of the pieces. The easy way to cut these is on a table saw and make two or three passes depending on the thickness of your blade. Be sure that it will fit 1/4 inch piece of plywood. With maybe a little bit of clearance.

Predrilling and Countersinking

Once you have those pieces done the next step is to pre drill For the screws or nails. If you’re using screws I would suggest you counter sync them. The reason you predrill is because these fence pickets are usually made of western red cedar which can be very brittle and if you are screwing in close to the edge or nailing, the wood is likely to split. Plus if your kids are helping you having them predrilled makes it really easy for them to hammer the nails in or to screw the pieces down.

[cutting planning]

Assembly

Assembly for this is very simple pull the pieces together and screw or or nail them together. I didn’t use any glue on this because I don’t intend this to last a lifetime. If I get 8 or 9 good years out of it that would be fine. This particular piece is going to sit outside for possibly two weeks a year and may see a little bit of rain so it’s really not going to be out in the weather very much at all. Therefore no reason to take extraordinary measures.

Once you have the box screwed together flip it over and put the back on if you used a rabbet measure and cut the back to match the rabbet. The rabbet really helps kids because it positions the back and makes it easy for them to nail it down.

Lining the Box

Here’s a little trick that I think makes this different than all the rest too. Line the box with some aluminum foil. This will allow most of the light to exit the box and not get absorbed by the wood. It should make the whole thing brighter.

The easy way to do this get some 3M spray adhesive and spray it into the box then push the aluminum foil in. Don’t worry too much about making it perfect.

Cutting the Panel and painting

With all that done all we need to do is cut the front panel. Now as I said you could use 1/4 inch piece of plywood and then use the scroll saw or coping saw to cut out your pattern. This is a great way to get the kids involved with tools without any danger. Scroll saws are easy to use it really can’t hurt you. Though the kids may break several blades trying to get around the corners.

The alternative that I used for this project was just to cut my design out directly from cardboard. The cardboard is cheap easy to cut and easy to dispose of so it’s perfect for the kids though you may want to watch the little fingers around sharp knife. By the way if the kids are too young you could just cut A-frame either in plywood or in cardboard and then have the kids cut their designs out with the scissors in heavy construction paper and then paste it directly to the frame.

With all that done you can go ahead and paint your design I just sprayed it black because mines going to be out at night and glowing like a pumpkin.

Well this has been a really cool project. Super quick, super easy, and super kid friendly. Hopefully you get a chance to give this a try and do some woodwork with your kids or grandkids. It will be something they can point to and say “I did that”.