Pallet Lantern Made With Hot Glue Construction

This project was actually a challenge to use a random box of stuff to create something using hot glue. The box included pallet wood which we decided would take center stage in the project!

Supplies

Pallet wood

Assorted hardware including tacks, hinges, latches

Rope and other random supplies

Surebonder full-size hot glue gun with construction adhesive hot glue sticks

Surebonder mini high temp detail hot glue gun with standard hot glue as well as silver glitter sticks

Silicone bead mold (for cake decorating)

Step 1: Watch the Video

The video shows the complete process. Stick around until the end to see what we did with the dinosaur!

Step 2: Taking Inventory and Generate Ideas

These are all the things that were included in the box. Once we saw the battery-powered candle, we knew we wanted to create an easy to build lantern.

We started by cutting the pallet wood for the top and bottom of the lantern. We laid four pieces side by side and cut them to a length so that the finished glued together pieces would be square. Once cut, we laid them side by side and hot glued the pieces to each other. We did this for the top and bottom. We hot glued a bit of rope trim to the top and bottom pieces.

We are using hot glue construction adhesive in the full-size hot glue gun to attach the side pieces to the top and bottom. The construction adhesive works really well on wood. Regular hot glue is not going to work well in this application. Notice, we put metal tack decorations on each of the four sides.

Back to the mini hot glue gun. We put in silver glitter sticks to add some bling around the rope edges.

The feet of the lantern is a deconstructed wood ball puzzle that we spray painted in oil rubbed bronze, attached with the construction adhesive glue sticks.

Step 3: Add Handle and Hot Glue Trim

The handle is made from the bottom of a metal stand and the top part of two latches. We used a Dremel rotary tool with a cutting wheel to cut off the part of the stand we needed. We used the same oil rubbed bronze. The latches were screwed into the top of the lantern and the now painted metal stand added between the two.

To create the bead-like trim, I'm using a silicone mold that is used for cake decorating. Simply fill the mold, let dry, remove, and then we hot glued the hot glue trim into place on the front of the lantern. We used the same silver glittery glue stick for this.

Step 4: Make the Folding Screen and White Wash

We hot glued pallet wood together to make three sections of four pieces each. All the panels, as well as the lantern, were whitewashed with a thin wash of DecoArt Chalky Finish paint in white. The three panels were attached with hinges.

We wrapped the folding screen with fairy lights, added the candle which we set into a cardboard star and wrapped with a bit of rope. A little festive greenery completes this wintery holiday look.

For more detail, please visit our website!