DIY Outdoor Scrap Wood Lantern {You Can Use With Solar Lights!}

In this post, I’ll show you how to make and customize your own DIY outdoor scrap wood lantern!

How cute are these?? You can make just one or several in different sizes.

DIY outdoor scrap wood lanterns in three sizes on front porch

My mom recently asked me to make her some simple wooden outdoor lanterns that she could hang on her pergola in the back yard and put some solar lights inside.

She wanted different sizes, so I made these three and they’re super easy to customize so you can mix and match and make any size you need.

I dug around my shop and found some scrap cedar for this project. Cedar is great for outdoor projects since it’s naturally rot resistant, but you can use any wood for this and use a good outdoor paint or sealant to protect it.

Now, let’s get building 🙂

Tools and Materials:

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Materials:

Scrap wood (amount depends on size and how many you make)
Wood Glue
Brad nails

Tools:

Table saw (optional)
Miter saw (or any saw that can cut a straight line)
Nail Gun

Step 1: Determine Lantern Base Size

My mom had purchased some little solar lights (I don’t know where she got them, but here are some similar) that she wanted to set inside the lanterns. So first, I needed to measure these and make sure to build these large enough for the lights to sit down into.

Measuring tape measuring the diameter of solar light

These were about 5″ in diameter, so I made my base about 7 ¼″ square. A typical 1×8 board is actually 7 ¼″ wide, so I just cut three pieces of 1×8 to 7 ¼″ long to give me three squares.

Step 2: Build Outdoor Scrap Wood Lantern Base

The bases of these lanterns are a simple box with these 7 ¼″ square pieces nailed to the top. So I cut four pieces that when put together, will make a 7 ¼″ square box.

Pieces cut and on workbench ready to assemble base

Now, I made these boxes different heights for each lantern.

For the tall lantern, I used 1x3s (which are 2 ½″), for the middle, I used 1x4s (which are 3 ½″) and for the short one, I trimmed the pieces to 4 ½″ wide so each box was 1″ taller than the other.

I glued and nailed these boxes together.

Nail gun and wood glue on workbench used to assemble small square box for lantern base

Then, I glued and nailed the 7 ¼″ square pieces on top of each box.

Top plate attached to square lantern base box

Step 3: Build Scrap Wood Lantern Frames

For the top sections of the lanterns, I used ¾″ square dowels. You can purchase these precut dowels from the big box store, but if you have a table saw, you can simply rip any 1x board into ¾″ wide strips and make your own.

Each lantern frame will have 4 corner pieces and 8 pieces about 5 ½″ long.

Pieces cut and laid out on workbench to assemble scrap wood lantern frame

To change the height of the lantern, simply adjust the length of the four corner pieces. I cut my tall ones 14″ long, the middle 11″ long and the small one 8″ long.

I glued and nailed two frames together.

Two rectangle frames assembled on workbench to make lantern top from

Then, I glued and nailed the other pieces between them at the corners to complete the whole lantern frame.

Lantern top frame assembled with wood glue and nails

Step 4: Attach Lantern Frame to Base

Once I had my bases and my frames complete, I put them all together.

I glued and nailed the tops to the bottoms like shown here.

Top outdoor scrap wood lantern frame attached to bottom base box

Step 5: Add Handle

You can leave as is, but since my Mom planned to hang these from her pergola, I added a little wooden piece at the top to hang them from.

I just used some of my scrap pieces and glued and nailed a little handle across the top section of each lantern.

Close up of scrap wood handle glued and nailed to top of lantern frame

You may think that these won’t be strong enough to hang from, but you’d be surprised how strong wood glue is. It’s pretty impressive.

I think this alone should hold them fine, but you could always add some screws or a beefier handle if you wanted 🙂 Feel free to get creative!

You can apply a clear coat or a finish of your choosing (if you plan to use these outdoor, be sure to use an EXTERIOR finish). But I left these natural cedar.

Three sizes of simple outdoor scrap wood lantern sitting on rug in front of front door

Add your own solar lights, plants, decor, etc. And bring them inside or leave them outside…lanterns are such a fun and versatile project, you can move them around and use them tons of different ways.

So I hope you enjoyed this DIY outdoor scrap wood lantern project and I hope it’s inspired you to dig around your scrap wood pile and see what you can make! If you want more scrap wood project ideas, here’s a few of my favorites!