I love the look of a Moroccan lantern. So, I decided to make some DIY Moroccan lanterns. I have seen these done before using mason jars. However mason jars are a bit more farmhouse than I am, so for mine I went with cylinder vases from the dollar store.
This is a fun and easy project and here is what you will need to complete it
Click here to watch this project on Youtube
Moroccan Lantern Supplies
Cylinder vase
Mod Podge
Food Colouring
3d Paint
Metallic gold cord
bead
‘s’ hook
Glue Gun
Dying the vase
The first part of this project is where we change the colour of the vase. And if you have never done this before, it’s actually pretty cool. It’s done with mod podge and food colouring. It doesn’t matter which type of mod podge you use, I have done this with both gloss and matte, and since it is on the inside of the vase, it will still look shiny from the outside regardless of which type you use.
Pour your mod podge into a small bowl (about 1/2 cup), and add a bit of water, that just makes it’s a bit runny so it’s easier to coat the inside of the vase. Add food colouring to get to your desired colour. Mix it up well, and then pour the mixture into your vase. Next you need to turn the vase until the entire surface is coated with the mod podge mixture. Try not to get any on the outside of the vase. When it’s all coated nicely turn the vase upside down onto tin foil, or a container to catch the runoff. Let it sit until it’s not running off anymore. I left mine for about 30 – 60 minutes.
Place it right side up on a baking sheet, and bake at 275 f, until it turns clear, this takes approx. 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool. I recently did another project where I did a second coat after the first one was baked on, because I wanted it darker, and it worked fine. There was a little bit of bubbling in the bottom but it got me a much darker tone.
Patterns
Once you have your vases coloured to your liking, the next step is to choose a pattern for them. I searched online under a few different heading, but the one that gave me the best results was just searching for “henna patterns” You may need to reduce the size of them to fit into your vase. I adjusted mine to about 90% to make them fit. I used painter’s tape to hold mine inside the vase, but a word of warning, the mod podge is like a dried glue, and can peel off, it something sticks to it too much. So, if you use tape be cautious. Another method is to wet the paper and stick it to the inside of the vase.
Check it out, my nails match my vase!!
I used two different paints. Both were 3D fabric paints that I purchased from Michael’s. Once was Scribbles 
, and although I really loved the shade of gold, this is the one I used on the blue lantern. It was really hard to squeeze and made my hand cramp up because I had to squeeze it so hard. The other one was tulip brand and this was way easier to use.
I used a roll of painter’s tape to prop the vases while I was painting on them. It’s a good idea to go from left to right, so that you don’t smudge your paint, assuming of course that you are right handed 🙂 Don’t worry too much about all the little intricacies on the designs. Just do the larger parts.
You don’t need to do anything to cure this paint, just give it a couple of hours to dry before handling it. At this point you can leave these as is, if you are happy with how they came out. But if you want a little bit more sparkle and bling then proceed to the next step
Embellishments
Ribbon
I used this metallic glitter tape that I bought at the dollar store (dollarama) it’s really sticky, not like washi tape, so it stays on once it’s in place. And it’s really sparkly. I just added the tape wherever it seemed like it would work. Like on the green moroccan lantern, I used 4 rows of it to help outline borders.
Rhinestones
I also added in some rhinestones in the henna design. This are also from the dollar store and were self- adhesive. I feel like the rhinestones really take them to the next level. On the purple vase, I had an opening in the middle of the mandala pattern that I used, so I applied a larger piece to this area. You could go light or heavy. Whatever your style is. And speaking of styling…
3 Ways to Style
There are a few different ways to style these moroccan lanterns
As is
You can just use them as they are, add a candle and place them on your table
On a Stand
You could also just add a dollar tree candle holder to the bottom of these and then they have more of a hurricane lamp feel to them. I think this looks really nice, if you are using them for a dinner party as part of your table decor.
Hangers
But if you really want that moroccan lantern vibe, then the best way to style them is to add a hanger. To make these hangers I cut 4 pieces of gold cord to 24″ each. Glue the cords at even distances to the top and bottom of the vase, leaving about 8″ of cord above the top section. Just apply a small dab of hot glue and hold the cord in place until it sets. Pull it tight to the bottom and do the same. Tie together in a knot in the top of the cords. This is where you will attach your “s” hook to hang these upl
On the bottom section, tape the 4 pieces together and feed through a bead, pull tight and use hot glue to affix to the bottom of the vase. If you don’t want the ends of the cord to unravel, use either clear tape or hot glue to seal them. I you want them to unravel, then leave them as is, or unravel them.
Candles
The final piece is to add a candle to your moroccan lantern. I generally use flameless candles in a lot of my DIY projects. As I am not totally sure how well the mod podge will stand up to the heat from a candle .
So here are my finished DIY Moroccan lanterns.
Which colour is your favourite?
Which pattern is your favourite?
Which styling is your favourite?
If you liked the moroccan themed project, stay tuned, because I have another moroccan project coming up in the next month.
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