Welcome back to the craft room and today’s BOO Halloween Lantern post! I have been seeing a TON of Cricut crafted lantern patterns around the internet lately. Today I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and give them a try. Rather than download any old SVG file I decided to work up my own SVG file from scratch. So, it’s off to Affinity Designer 2. Let me show you what I came up with!
Halloween Lantern Design
Since my knowledge of Affinity Designer is still in the baby steps area, I wanted to keep this design simple. I started by creating the basic lantern shape. To stay within the 12” x 12” card stock size, I chose to make my lantern measurements 2.75” x 5.5”. Each opening measures 2.25” x 5”. The next step; decide what to place into the window openings. My design started with the word “BOO”. It’s best to use a nice chunky font for designs like this, so I used Hellobro from Creative Fabrica. When placing and resizing the letters I made sure they were connected to another portion of the design in two or more places. I created the same design on a second panel but turning the letters in the opposite direction.
The next step was to fill in the last two panels. Again, I didn’t want to rely on someone else, so I tried my hand at creating a cobweb. Of course, after that I needed to add a spider to the design. All of these elements need a bit more work, but for a first try, I’m super proud of myself! The last step was to add lines in the design that can be turned into score lines in design space. Group it all together, save as an SVG and off we go to the Cricut Explore Air 2 for cutting!
Putting It All Together
I found a nice heavy piece of dark purple card stock to cut my BOO Halloween Lantern from. No idea when it was added to my paper collection or where it came from, but it is perfect for this project. Because I often have issues with the cutter setting for heavy card I chose the 80lb setting. If it didn’t look like the cut was deep enough, I could always send it back through for another pass. This card cut so beautifully and perfect after just one pass. This project is the first chance I’ve had to try out the scoring tool. I was a little concerned the score lines wouldn’t be deep enough but again, not the case at all.
To diffuse the light from inside, you can use any number of media; lightweight typing paper, vellum in any weight, and even tissue paper. I chose to use a 29lb Clear Vellum from Recollections. Each piece is cut to 2.5” x 5.25”. In the photo below I’ve lined up the vellum panels onto the dark purple card the lantern is made from. You can see the difference in the color, so this is going to be perfect for diffusing the light.
To adhere the vellum to the back of the lantern I used Art Glitter Glue. Rather than use the large bottle it came in, I used a fine tip refillable bottle that I purchased from Hobby Lobby. Using this bottle I am able to apply small amounts to the very delicate cob webs. With all vellum projects, you need to be super careful how you apply the adhesive so it won’t show. As an aside, I have tried many different types of vellum adhesive over the course of my crafting career. Nothing is fool proof with this medium. As you can see in the image below, every drop and line of glue will be visible forever.
To close the lantern, I mitered the corners of the flap. Doing this will help create a finished look to the piece. It’s difficult to see in the image below, but I added a strip of 1/8” Scor Tape to help seal the lantern closed. To give myself a little bit of wiggle room, I also added more of the Art Glitter Glue.
After you finish the lantern you have a very cool and spooky table decoration.
To really take this project to the next level you will need an LED battery operated tea light. I purchased a three pack from my local Dollar Tree. Not only do they light up, but they flicker like a real candle! I had so much fun making this project! From conception, to completion, I couldn’t be more proud of myself and the creative process.
Thank you for joining me for today’s BOO Halloween Lantern post. Have you jumped onto the lantern train yet? If so I would love to hear all about it! Drop a link of your creation in the comments below! Until then, have a wonderful week and I will see you in the craft room again real soon!
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