Magical DIY Paper Night Light

Do you love the soft glow of a night light?

For the past few months I have been thinking about ways to make the night light a functional piece of art that glows.

Here are the first group of designs I want to share with you. Besides the pretty floral patterns, we also have a pine cone design that would be great for those who love a woodland theme!

Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow

Important: always keep paper at a safe distance to anything that generates heat, and use LED night-lights only.

Remember these DIY dimensional paper flower lanterns?

*Some resources in article are affiliate links. Full disclosure here.

Amazing collection of 28 stunning yet easy DIY outdoor lights! Most can be made in 1 hour, with up-cycled or common materials. So creative and beautiful! - A Piece Of Rainbow

These lanterns are free standing while the night light we are making today is a like wall sconce.

DIY Paper Night Light with pine cone design details

Materials and tools to make paper night light:

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  • LED plug-in night light, LED generates much less heat and is safer to use near paper.
  • Card stock, which hold their shape really well, and are easy to cut.
  • Xacto knife or a Silhouette Portrait or Cricut cutting machine. The downloads at the end of this tutorial includes both pdf templates for hand cutting and Silhouette cutting files.
  • Optional: color tissue paper for colorful glow!
Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow
Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow

Step 1: cut the designs to make DIY Paper Night Light

Cut the designs using a Xacto knife or the Silhouette Portrait or Cameo. Follow the color-coded lines of cut and score lines.

cutting paper to make DIY Paper Night Light with flower and pine cone design details

Step 2: create 3D details on the DIY Paper Night Light

Create dimensional design details on the pine needles, pinecone, and flower petals by gently curling the paper at the cut lines.

Fold along the score lines and glue the two tabs to the corresponding numbers on the folded edges. Use clips to hold everything while the glue dries.

Now we have a half cylinder with tabs for hanging!

Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow

If you decide to change the size or designs of this piece, it is very important that the paper is kept at a safe distance from the light bulb, and use LED night light!

Step 3: using the DIY Paper Night Light

Plug in the night light. Put the paper shade over it and find a good spot to hang it so it covers the night light and it is easy to reach the switch.

Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow
Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow

Use a clear pushpin or a tiny nail to hang the paper shade from the horizontal tab we added in step 3.

If you glue some colored tissue paper on the inside, you will get colored glow. I used yellow, pink and green tissue paper in the lights below.

Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow
Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow

The trick is to use 2-3 layers of tissue paper so the colors are rich enough.

Transform a plain night light into an enchanting paper lantern. Download the flower or pine cone designs to make your own functional art that glows! - A Piece of Rainbow

Easy enough, right? I have some new ideas brewing. Any wishes and requests for new designs? Feel free to leave a comment!

Here are the templates for you to download!  

You may also like: 2- minute Mason jar oil lamp with a magic wick.

Make gorgeous oil lamp from mason jars and glass bottles. Safer than candles, it takes only 2 minutes to make using vegetable oils and water! - A Piece Of Rainbow Blog

28 Stunning yet easy outdoor lighting projects you can DIY.

Amazing collection of 28 stunning yet easy DIY outdoor lights! Most can be made in 1 hour, with up-cycled or common materials. So creative and beautiful! - A Piece Of Rainbow

Have a glowing weekend! =)

24 Comments

  1. Dragonfly with reeds please.
    They are so cute. Will be an easy thing to pick up and put down whilst on holiday. Thank you for the idea.

  2. Would you consider putting a link in these comments? Even when I follow the link you posted to Tara below, when I hit “download” it does not download.

  3. This is such a cute and good idea! I love it! I also enjoy engaging in DIY projects every now and again, and this is the perfect one. My best friend loves lights like these, so I think I may have to make her some for her birthday!

  4. These are so lovely! Sadly, the link to download the templates is no longer working. Is it possible for me to still be able to access the templates?

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