Light up your mantel and your porch with 27+ DIY wood lanterns built from your scrap pile, for fall, Halloween, Christmas, and every day in between.
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Lanterns make your home feel more welcoming, and they don’t take much wood, so they’re a great way to use up your scrap pile. I pulled together 27+ of them, from open-frame centerpieces perfect for weddings and tablescapes to peaked-roof porch lanterns, jack-o-lanterns, snowmen, and Christmas trees that give your home a warm glow all year long.
Centerpiece & Wedding Lanterns
Setting a table for a party or a wedding? These lanterns look great by themselves or grouped to fill a long table.
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Matt Gillis/Jaime Costiglio
Open-Frame Candle Centerpieces
Jaime made these lanterns in a mix of heights and widths so they cluster well for a tablescape. Each is an open frame around a glass hurricane and a pillar candle.
Built by Ana, this one works like a frame around a pillar candle, open on all sides with tall corner posts. It works as a table centerpiece or out on the patio.
Want to add a soft glow to your room without reaching for a lamp? These lanterns are perfect on a mantel, on a console table, or on the hearth next to the fireplace.
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Woodshop Diaries
Slim Wooden Candle Lantern
Shara made this one tall, narrow lantern, with a stack of square plates at the top that step down to a little loop handle. There’s just enough room inside for a single candle or a small sprig of greenery.
Shara made this tall lantern with a peaked pyramid roof, a little finial on top, and a door that swings open. Cut-out details let the candlelight peek through the sides.
Jen finished these lanterns in a soft, beachy white, with a metal bail handle curving over the top. A glass hurricane sits inside each one to cradle the candle.
Wearing a soft, worn look, these lanterns from Tiffany come in white and a pale sea-glass green. A round knob tops each one, and little feet give them a little lift.
This lantern surrounds the candle with a cage of slim vertical spindles, capped top and bottom with a spoke-like pattern. Wendi used a twisted rope for the handle.
Amanda built these lanterns as a set of three in graduated heights, all in black. Each one is an open square frame with a candle glowing in the center.
Built by Amy, these lanterns stand big enough to flank a front door, with legs that taper in toward the top. Decorative nail heads dot the frame, and a candle glows inside after dark.
Drawing on her travels through Japan and Thailand, Timisha gave this one slatted sides and a row of little diamonds down the center of each panel. A thin wire handle lets it hang from a hook or sit on a table.
Amy framed a mason jar here with a mottled, mirrored shine that catches the light. A solar cap tops it off, so it soaks up sun by day and glows on its own at night.
Timisha lined up this set of three lanterns in different heights, each with horizontal slats. A solar light sits in the top, so they light up when the sun goes down.
These lanterns bring the fall season in with cutouts and a warm glow, and they come back out every September.
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Saws on Skates
Wooden House Lantern
I scaled this one down from a big primitive house lamp I spotted on a fall road trip, sizing it to fit on a mantel. A piece of window screen mesh behind the cutouts softens the light from the LED tea light inside.
Kati’s lanterns taper in toward the top, with a pumpkin shape cut through all four sides so the glow shows on every face. She built a set of three in stepped heights that look good grouped together or standing on their own.
Carved pumpkins rarely make it all the way to Halloween night. These wooden jack-o-lanterns glow on the steps for the trick-or-treaters and can be used year after year.
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Saws on Skates
Wooden Pumpkin Lanterns
I built a short version and a tall one, both with vertical slats across the front to mimic the ridges on a real pumpkin. The face is cut separately and layered on top, and the plan includes two patterns.
Sean and Morgan made three sizes to group together, each with a lift-off lid and a small stacked handle on top. Black stain darkens the wood so the carved faces stand out once the battery candle is on.
Rachel Lynn used up leftover cedar for these, cutting a jack-o-lantern face through the front of each one. She built them in three heights and shows them both raw and stained, so you can see how different the two look.
These lanterns pair well with greenery and pinecones, and most of them come together in an afternoon.
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Saws on Skates
Snowman Lantern
I made this one as a winter version of my pumpkin lanterns, same slatted front, but with a smiling face and a black hat on top. A flameless tea light slides in through the open bottom of the back.
Tylynn built this one as an open frame with short round feet lifting it off the table. She kept it compact for a smaller dining table, then set a candle inside and tucked greenery around the base.
Christine cut a full Christmas tree through the front of this one and topped it with a lift-off lid. She lit hers two ways, a battery candle for a soft glow and string lights tucked inside for something brighter.
Shelly modeled these on a store display, crossing two arched arms over a square base. She made three in stepped heights and filled each base with flameless candles and winter greens.
Angela stacked angled boards into a little tree, then added a shelf at the bottom to hold a mason jar. It works hanging on a wall or standing on a table.
Shelly made these lanterns in three heights, each one bright white with a peaked roofline like a little house. A glass vase sits inside to hold a candle.
Hi there – I’m Scott, a woodworking enthusiast and creator of Saws on Skates, a site I started in 2015 to share easy-to-follow tutorials, space-saving shop tips, and project inspiration for DIYers at any skill level. Learn more about my woodworking journey here.
