Easy and Terrific DIY Punch Tin Lamps For Your Backyard

Do you remember creating punch tin lamps? This is a DIY the whole family can have fun with and it makes your yard glow all season long.

I made these can lanterns when I was in girl scouts and I remember how fun it was. What better way to use recycled cans than creating a fun glowing lantern for your yard.

Punch Tin Lamps Materials

• Tin Cans
• Water
• Punch
• Hammer
• Drill
• Safety Googles
• Twine
• LED light

Punch Tin Lamps Videos

How do you make Tin can lanterns?

How do you make tin can luminaries?

Punch Tin Lamps Instructions

1. Wash out the can and remove the label

I peeled the label off and then washed out the can with soapy water and let it dry.

2. Fill the can with water and ice

I filled the can with ice first and then filled the rest with water. This will speed up the process of freezing the water in the can, so you can also just use water instead.

3. place the can in the freezer

I placed the cans in the freezer overnight and pulled out the frozen cans the next day to get started on the rest of the project.

4. Draw your design on the can

I used gloves to protect my hands as the cans were very cold. I used a dry erase marker to draw my heart design on my can. This would make it easy to erase and move the mark if I needed to.

5. Use a hammer and punch to indent the can

I placed the punch onto the mark on the can. I tapped the hammer until the punch made a dent in the tin can.

How do you punch Holes in tin cans?

6. drill the holes in the can

I put on my safety goggles. I took my drill and placed it into the dents I had made with the punch. I then drilled into the can until I made my hole. I repeated this process until all the holes were made.

how do you make a hole in tin without a drill?

If you don’t want to use a drill, you could alternatively use the punch and hammer to puncture holes through the can, or a nail would work as well.

7. Punch a hole into each side

I want to hang my tin can lantern so I hammered my punch on either side of my can to create a hole.

You can stop here if you are happy with the tin can look, or you can continue on to paint your can.

8. Paint your can

I painted my can with white Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint. It took 2 coats and I let it dry for an hour between each coat. I then let it dry completely before moving to the next step.

Once the white paint was dry, I painted my heart in with Folk Art Treasure Gold in the color Rose Gold. My other can I would paint the heart in with Gold Treasure Gold.

9. make the handle

I tied twine through the holes on both sides to create a handle to hang the tin lantern. You could use wire or a variety of other things for the handle.

10. Add lighting

I placed battery-operated LED lights in my cans that color change. They’re also waterproof. You could use other options to light up your cans as well.

I made 2 other can lanterns. For those, I spray painted the cans with gold and copper paint, then painted the center with Apple Barrel White Paint.

I’ll be hanging mine on my front porch from the hooks that hang our garland during the holidays. There are several other ways you can use tin cans and they can be recycled too.

Punch Tin Lamps video

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