How to Make Treacle Tin Lanterns

If, like me, you like handmade gifts for family and friends you'll find that the men in your life can be so difficult to please! The majority of craft ideas are geared towards women, and when it comes to buying for the chaps I never find the high street very inspiring either.

These treacle and syrup tin lanterns make great gifts for men or women. They look magical lit up in the garden during any season, and Lyle's traditional-looking tins mean all the work to make your gifts look suitably vintage has been done for you!

A set of three took me less than an hour to make. 

You will need:

Lyle's Golden Syrup and/or Black Treacle tins - no leftover stickyness allowed!, tealights, wire/brown hairy string/ribbon, a bradawl or sharp pointed screwdriver

1. First, use your bradawl to punch a hole on either side of the top of your tin. These will be the holes for your hanger.

2. Punch holes all over your tin. As you puncture, before removing the bradawl, wiggle and lift it slightly. You will inevitably dent the tin as you punch, and this will help lift it flat again. You can punch as many or as few holes as you wish.

3. Thread your chosen hanger through, tying a knot on the inside of each hole if you're using string, or simply bend the wire so it can't lift out. It's important to make sure they are really secure because a falling lantern is quite a fire hazard! You can always use a soldering iron on metal hangers if you're happy for your hanger to always be upright. If using string it's a good idea to spray it with starch and leave it to dry first, then it won't droop into your tin and catch light.

4. Add a decorative ribbon to your hanger if you wish, pop a tealight in each, and your lanterns are complete! Please remember that the tins and hangers do get hot. Leaving the lanterns' lids on or off gives different effects.

A whole set of these beauties hanging from the lower branches of a tree or lined up along a wall, look so warm and cheery, and they cast beautiful shapes on their surroundings. I think they are only enhanced by being left to rust slightly (not completely), but if you want to keep yours looking shiny and new then store them somewhere dry and warm.

Finally, a homemade gift most chaps will actually like!

What do you think?

By the way, if you're reading this because you like to create, then my creativity revolution - Creatives Unite! may well be for you! Scroll down to yesterday's post to learn more, or you'll find a dedicated page at the top of this one. It starts tomorrow evening, so drop me an email to sign up!