Don't Toss Empty Egg Cartons: Turn Them Into Adorable Lanterns For Your Home

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There's nothing better than a sustainable craft — turning something that would otherwise be junk into something cute and decorative for your home. Old egg cartons can be a particularly versatile item for this kind of project, easily reimagined into lots of clever designs, including the adorable hanging lanterns featured in this Instagram post from Seaside Sustainability. This simple DIY is so easy to accomplish, and makes a particularly fun project to do with kids, as it requires minimal tool use and lots of scope for creativity.

To make these cute egg carton lanterns, all you'll need is two empty plastic egg cartons, a pair of scissors, paint and a paintbrush, a hot glue gun, string, clear tape, and any decorative elements you might want to use. To make a basic lantern, start by removing the flat part of the lid from your egg cartons, leaving the egg cup-shaped sections connected at their hinge. Next, paint the inside of each carton, using as many coats as necessary for full coverage. Once they've had time to dry, line the cartons up side by side, and attach them along both long edges with a piece of tape to create a closed, rectangular prism. Cut two equal lengths of string, roughly 10 inches each, and tape one end of each into the upper corners of the lantern such that they cross each other to form an X. Tie another piece of string around this center point to create the loop from which the lantern will actually hang.

There are so many ways to personalize this basic hanging lantern structure. For one thing, you don't have to limit yourself to just two egg cartons for a rectangular lantern — the more cartons you add, the rounder your lantern shape will become. You can also trim the egg cartons to create lanterns of different heights, which is particularly fun if you're making a cluster of several. Once you have your lanterns, you then have plenty of creative license when it comes to how to decorate them. For a more traditional lantern look, use a hot glue gun to run a line of glue around the bottom rim of each lantern, then affix a pompom or tassel trim to the glue. You can also use ribbons, marabou, feathers, or any other type of decorative trim to finish off your look.

It's important to take into consideration the type of egg carton you'll be using when planning your project. Plastic cartons will give you a smooth, polished look, and are relatively easy to paint, though it's important to use an acrylic paint that will adhere well to a plastic surface, like this Caliart Acrylic Paint Set of 24 Colors with 12 Brushes from Amazon. However, this DIY can also be done with cardboard cartons if that's what you have on hand. Paint the outside of the carton rather than the inside, as the color won't show through the way it does with plastic.