DIY cardboard cosmic lantern craft, Digi Mart USA News: Turning leftover cardboard into a decorative light is a simple project that can be finished in an afternoon. The craft produces a square lantern with star and crescent moon shapes that glow when a light is placed inside.
The project starts with flat, bend-free pieces of cardboard for the walls and top, which keep the lantern sturdy. Clear plastic is also needed for the windows, and the source suggests reusing a plastic cupcake box, with a flat lid that has no bumps or indentations.
An LED candle or LED light provides the glow.
The tools suggested include a ChompSaw or a craft knife for cutting out shapes, a hole punch, a pencil, a black felt-tipped marker, alcohol markers, a glue gun, clear plastic tape, a ruler and scissors. Cutting the cardboard to the desired dimensions comes first, followed by drawing stars and crescent moons on the pieces.
Each shape is cut out, using the hole punch to start the cut in the middle of one object. The source notes that spray painting the exterior is optional and gives the lantern a fancier look.
The flat tops of the plastic carton are then glued behind the cut shapes as window panes and colored with markers.
Colored cellophane sheets can replace both the plastic panes and the markers, trimmed to cover the shape openings. To finish, the sides and top are taped together and the lantern is placed over a light on a table, so the light shines through the star-and-moon windows.
