DIY Garden lantern from a plastic bottle

I love turning things from my recycling bin into something we can use. This DIY garden lantern was made from a plastic bottle and it turned out even better than I could have hoped.The lantern was inspired by a couple of garden ornaments that I had seen including these

DIY Garden lantern - This is a fantastic DIY craft for upcycling plastic bottles. A beautiful plastic bottle DIY garden lantern.

This DIY garden lantern was inspired by a couple of garden ornaments that I had seen including these water bottle wind spirals and this plastic bottle wind spinner.

What you need to make your own plastic bottle lantern

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Plastic bottle and lid
Sharpies or permanent markers alternatively paint it like our wind spinner
Craft knife
Scissors
Wire
Beads
Battery-operated tea lights or lights
Bradawl

How to make a DIY Garden lantern

First off I set the boys off colouring in the plastic bottle with Sharpies. There is no right or wrong way to do this. The boys went mad and used every permanent marker that I had. You could, however, chose a smaller number of even add a pattern to your bottle.

I then cut lines down the bottle using a craft knife to start and then my scissors. My lines are not all the same thickness, but you could measure them if you wanted too.

Once you have cut the strips then you need to crease the strips. You do this by pushing the top of the bottle toward the bottom. This will cause the slits to collapse. Hold it in place and fold each slit in the center, creating a crease.

Then using a bradawl or a small screwdriver make two holes in the bottle lid, before taking your wire and threading throw to create a loop.

Then I threaded some beads onto some more wire and twisted that on to the cap.

You can easily add your light by pushing the top of the bottle down towards the bottom and slipping it in.

It looks wonderful in the garden during the day and spins as the wind catches it.

However, it really comes into its own as the night starts to fall. The lantern just glows with beautiful colours and I can not capture its beauty in any of the photographs I took.