Plastic Bottle Halloween Lanterns

Halloween lanterns made from recycled plastic drink bottles are fun to make and safe for toddlers and preschoolers to play with.  Add a battery operated tea light candle and your spooky lantern is complete. 

spooky plastic bottle halloween lanterns, recycled craft for kids

Looking for more halloween crafts?  Colour mixing pumpkins are a perfect craft for toddlers and I love our ghost handprints and footprints



To make a halloween lantern you will need:(affiliate links)


  • Plastic drink bottle
  • Acrylic paint (we found out poster paint flakes off!)
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Marker pen or black card to make shapes. 
  • Battery operated tea light candle (Uk link / US link)



How to make a plastic bottle halloween lantern


Cut the bottom half off a drink bottle using a craft knife.
 make plastic bottle halloween lanterns

Paint the plastic bottle with acrylic paint. White for a ghost or orange for a pumpkin. 

painting plastic bottles to make lanterns

We painted our orange pumpkin lantern with poster paint and found lots of the paint flaked off so I would definitely advice using  acrylic paint. 

simple halloween lanterns for toddlers and preschoolers

Once dry make holes at the top of the lantern using a craft knife.   Post a pipe cleaner through to make a handle. Twist the pipe cleaner around to keep the handle in place. 

halloween lantern recycled bottle craft

Draw or stick faces onto the lanterns and put a battery operated tea light candle inside. 

halloween lantern craft for kids using recylced plastic bottles


Harry: Age 3


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You may be interested in these links: 

Looking for more halloween crafts?  Colour mixing pumpkins are a perfect craft for toddlers and I love our ghost handprints and footprints


1 comment

  1. This is an adorable idea! I love that you used plastic bottles - we use too many so I love finding new things to make with them!

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