25 DIY Ideas for Decorating a Christmas Lantern Worth Showing Off (2024)

Celebrations

Christmas

• 01 of 25

  Gift Boxes and Disco Balls

  

  Create a Christmas coffee table vignette with a pair of shiny gold lanterns. Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made By Carmona filled one with mini wrapped gift boxes and disco ball ornaments, and the other with ball ornaments and pine cones. Greens tucked inside and out add volume and echo the wall garland above the TV.

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• 02 of 25

  Orange Slices and Walnuts

  

  Add color to wide clear glass lanterns (or vases) filled with white pillar candles by scattering the bottoms with dried orange slices and whole walnuts or acorns. S.U.S.A.P placed lanterns of varying heights and sizes on the windowsill, but these could work as a centerpiece for a large dining table, too.
  

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• 03 of 25

  Twinkly Lights

  

  Fill gold-rimmed hexagonal lanterns with strands of twinkly lights. Craftberry Bush chose wire strands of different colors, placing the modern lanterns at the base of the tree amongst wrapped gifts.

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• 04 of 25

  Bows, Greens, and Berries

  

  Decorate outdoor lanterns with greens, berries, mini pine cones, and bows. Thistlewood Farms lined the front porch stairs with a mix of decorated and undecorated lanterns in various shapes, sizes, and materials for a collected feel.

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• 05 of 25

  Green Pillar Candles

  

  Simple changes like swapping standard white pillar candles for earthy green will make your hurricane lanterns feel updated for the holidays. Inspired By Charm flanked the fireplace with a pair of brass lanterns that add extra light when the fire is going and light up the hearth when it's not.

  See Also

  27 DIY Christmas Lanterns Ideas To Brighten Up Your HomeLarge DIY Paper Lanterns {7 Days of Paper Christmas}

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• 06 of 25

  Cedar Branches and Ribbon

  

  Decorate the top of a hanging lantern for Christmas with cedar branches and neutral ribbon to create a holiday centerpiece in your dining room, like this space from Pine and Prospect Home.
  

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• 07 of 25

  Frosted Pinecones

  

  Add a wintry feel to an outdoor lantern by filling it with a mix of plain and frosted pine cones. Maison de Cinq created a simple porch display using a vintage galvanized metal lantern embellished with a fleur-de-lys.

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• 08 of 25

  Red Bows

  

  Add instant Christmas style to simple black or silver metal lanterns by topping them with bright red bows. Thistlewood Farms lined the front steps with a cascade of lanterns decorated with red bows that echo the faux red poinsettia plants on the front porch.

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• 09 of 25

  Coastal Lantern Display

  

  Fill galvanized metal lanterns with frosted and shimmery white ornaments and mix with seashells for a coastal feel, like this Christmas sunroom display from Finding Silver Pennies.
  

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• 10 of 25

  Mini Metallic Ornaments

  

  Create a budget-friendly holiday centerpiece built around a trio of gold-rimmed glass lanterns in varying heights. Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made By Carmona added a pillar candle to one, then filled the other two with gold beeswax candles and mini mixed metallic ornaments.

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• 11 of 25

  Book Page Tree

  

  For a farmhouse look, Thistlewood Farms decorated the inside of a galvanized lantern with a little Christmas tree made from old book pages. The lantern adds neutral holiday decor to the kitchen counter. The door is left ajar so that the details of the little tree can be appreciated.

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• 12 of 25

  Modern Christmas Lantern

  

  Create a modern spin on the Christmas lantern with a white paper lantern topped with holiday decor. Craftberry Bush decorated this DIY lantern with sprigs of holly, berry branches, and a faux red cardinal. But you can start with an affordable store-bought lantern, too.

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• 13 of 25

  Rusty Upcycled Lantern

  

  If you have a rusty old non-working gas lantern languishing in the garage or the attic, build a rustic centerpiece around it by filling it with ornaments and surrounding it with frosted greens, like this dining table display from Funky Junk Interiors. Position a lighted tea candle next to it that will make the broken lantern appear to glow from within.

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• 14 of 25

  Fireplace Hearth Lanterns

  

  A pair of Christmas lanterns add charm to a fireplace hearth. Fill vintage-style lanterns with pine cones to bring the outdoors inside, like this holiday display from Maison de Cinq.
  

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• 15 of 25

  Double Lit Lanterns

  

  Bring in outdoor lanterns and fill them with both twinkle lights and LED candles to add extra light at the base of the Christmas tree, like this white Christmas decor scheme from Craftberry Bush.

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• 16 of 25

  Bottle Brush Trees

  

  Create a little woodland wonderland scene inside of a pair of Christmas lanterns to delight the kids. Made in a Day styled red lanterns with faux snow, then planted a bottle brush tree and a mini deer statuette. Feel free to sub in your favorite Christmas-themed objects.
  

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• 17 of 25

  Small Potted Plant

  

  Fill a galvanized metal Christmas lantern with a small potted plant or topiary, like this simple holiday side table display from Thistlewood Farms. Faux greenery would work well here.

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• 18 of 25

  Mini Pine Cones

  

  Fill your Christmas lanterns with mini pine cones to style a kitchen countertop or create a simple holiday table centerpiece. Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made By Carmona placed gold-rimmed glass lanterns at various heights with the help of a cake stand for a simple display using items from around the house.

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• 19 of 25

  Mini Lantern Ornaments

  

  Add volume to your Christmas tree or mantel decor with mini lantern ornaments that can be left bare or filled with anything from LED tea candles or string lights to candy canes, a handful of ornaments, or whatever else strikes your fancy, like this woodland-inspired Christmas tree from Inspired By Charm.

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• 20 of 25

  Wood Bead Garland

  

  Drape the outside of a galvanized metal Christmas lantern with a wood bead garland finished with jute tassels as part of a holiday display, like this neutral farmhouse vignette from Thistlewood Farms.

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• 21 of 25

  Vintage Reproduction Lantern

  

  Use a lantern to light up a Christmas mantel display. Funky Junk Interiors used a vintage reproduction lantern as the starting point for a nature-inspired mantel decorated with foraged greens, deer antlers, and warm wood accents that complements the rustic stone fireplace.
  

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• 22 of 25

  Front Porch Lanterns

  

  Decorate your front porch lanterns to add a welcoming holiday feel. Modern Glam filled galvanized lanterns with fake snow, flameless candles, and bright red vintage ornaments to add color.
  

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• 23 of 25

  Star Garland

  

  Make a Christmas lantern part of your fireplace display. S.U.S.A.P draped an LED star garland over stacked logs in this raised fireplace and placed a flameless tea candle inside of the adjacent Christmas lantern to add more light to the rustic display of green and dried orange slice garlands, pine cones, and a mini tree.
  

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• 24 of 25

  Porch Light Bows

  

  Using the same decorations and color scheme throughout a common space will help structure a maximalist Christmas decor scheme indoors or out. Thistlewood Farms decorated the facade of this white-and-black house for Christmas with bright red poinsettias and bows tied to everything from the wreaths on every window to the pair of lantern-style porch lights flanking the front door.

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• 25 of 25

  DIY Paper Lanterns

  

  If you run out of Christmas lanterns to decorate, try making these DIY paper lanterns from Lia Griffith. Each side of the lantern features a slightly different woodland scene, with perforated dots that conjure falling snow. The lanterns are lined with frosted vellum paper and lit with flameless tea candles to create a warm glow that will warm up a Christmas mantel, windowsill, or centerpiece, but are neutral enough to stay up through the winter.