Halloween Lantern with Vintage Images

 If you are stopping by for the Creative Charms Fall Blog Hop, please click HERE to go to the blog hop post.  After you finish the hop come on back and have a look around!

I found another way to use some of the vintage Halloween images from Twisted Papers.  I've had this idea in mind for a while and Friday night I finally had a chance to make a basic prototype version.  

I used this tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More on the "TagsMirror Windows" feature to form the lantern frame.  I sized the tag at 8 inches to be sure it would fit on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock.  By using the Gypsy, I was able to tap "weld" and eliminate the tick marks for the scoring (you can do the same thing with Design Studio by checking the "welding" box).

This is the large tag cut removed from the mat.  I cut four of these - two for the outside and two for the inside of the lantern.

I printed out two copies of a couple of vintage Halloween images on vellum.  I made them approximately the size of the openings in the tag frames.  When I printed the images I used the setting for transparency film in my printer and that seemed to work well (photo paper settings would probably put too much ink on the surface).

Once I had the frames cut and the vellum printed I was ready to start assembling the lantern.

I eliminated the tick marks because it is very easy to see where to make the score lines.  Just place the frame against the top of the scoring board and line up the "notch" between the two frames with any line on the board.

Fold toward the "mountain" of the score line - be careful, the frames are rather thin and you don't want to tear the paper.

You can use one of the cut outs left from the frame to help determine where to trim the vellum image so it will fit properly.  I had "guesstimated" on the sizing and it worked out almost even - my images were a bit long for the frame.

Be careful when you trim the vellum with a trimmer - the blade seems tear the paper easily at the start of the cut.  It is sometimes better to put the blade down in the middle of the cut and pull it to both ends to get a smooth result.  It doesn't really matter here since this edge will be sealed in the frame.

I used an ATG to apply strong adhesive all around the frame.  Then I carefully lined up one of the vellum pieces, making sure to have the "good" side facing out.

You might have to trim a bit at the angles on the top of the frame.

When you have all four images secured in two of the frames you can start to put the lantern together.

Add more tape all around the inside of one of the empty frames.

Then, line it up with the inside of the vellum image and stick it down.  The tape is very aggressive, so take the time to line it up carefully the first time!

Add more tape to the other empty frame section and apply it over the second vellum image.

After this step your frames should look like this.

Add more adhesive on the open frame and place the second section with the vellum images on top of the frame.  The lantern will look like this from the outside.  Now you just need to add adhesive to the last open frame and carefully pull it closed, adhering to the inside of the last vellum pane.  This step is the most difficult because it is now a three dimensional object.

When all four sides have been connected, the lantern will be finished (with no exposed edges of the vellum showing) on the inside.

I used four battery powered tea lights to illuminate the lantern.

It is very difficult to take a photo of the lantern in the dark but here you can see the effect of the low tea lights.

Next, I tried a real candle (in a glass container).  The effect is slightly different when the flame is higher.

This lantern looks pretty when it is lit up and also when it is in unlit in the daylight because of the colorful images.  I made this one as a start - I have lots of ideas on ways to "fancy" it up!  You can use different frames, change the sizes, use different images on each side, add lots of embellishments - there's no limit to the variations that are possible. I want to do some of these as hanging lanterns - won't that be pretty?!

We have company for the weekend - my husband's sister and her family are staying with us while the new floors in their house addition are being installed and finished.  There may be some haunted house building happening on Saturday...I hope you have a crafty weekend!


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