Use a Lantern for Summer Coastal Decor
It’s time for another Pinterest Challenge! This month our inspiration is lantern themed. Lanterns have been popular in home decor for many years and it’s going to be fun to see how everyone in our group decorated for summer using a lantern photograph as inspiration. Since it’s summer, I decided to Use a Lantern for Summer Coastal Decor. I don’t live on the coast, but it’s fun to add a coastal vibe to my home in the summer
Today’s lantern post is a Pinterest challenge that I’m sharing along with a group of blogging friends. This is a monthly Pinterest challenge hosted by Cindy from County Road 407. Each month Cindy picks a picture from Pinterest and challenges our group to recreate the look.
You may remember last month’s challenge where our group created Patriotic Porch Decor, April’s Spring Floral Wreaths and also the challenge from March where we each created an Easter Centerpiece and Table.
Many thanks to Cindy for hosting this challenge!
If you arrived here from First Day of Home, welcome! Chrissy is a new blog friend and I’ve been enjoying getting to know her. I’m sure that you enjoyed seeing her version of our inspiration picture. You’ll find a list of all of the participating bloggers at the end of this post. I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone recreated this look.
Our Inspiration for this Challenge
This month we were challenged to create a Lantern vignette inspired by this beautiful display created by Kelley Nan Gracious Living.
I admired the neutral vibe of the inspiration photo with the pops of green. I don’t grow indoor plants, nor do I decorate with neutrals, so I focused on the lantern and candle part of the inspiration picture to come up with my own version with a coastal vibe.
Use a Lantern for Summer Coastal Decor
Being a girl raised in the south, summer isn’t summer without the beach. I have no beach plans in the near future, but it doesn’t stop me from giving my home some coastal decor for summer.
I loved how our inspiration photo from Pinterest showed a lantern on a fireplace hearth. Since my fireplace hearth is flat, I elevated my lantern with a vintage tool box. A vintage oyster can brings a touch of blue and coastal to the brick hearth.
I made this lantern along with another to use on my mantle one Christmas. Making lanterns was a fun DIY project and I’ve used the lanterns for decor in different seasons. You can see the lanterns used for a beach themed mantle here and decorated in a coastal style here.
Since our inspiration picture used a lantern with a candle, I added a candle to my lantern for this vignette. To give it a coastal feel, I tied some thick twine around the candle and glued a starfish to it.
To the left of the candle are two pieces of fossilized coral that belonged to my grandmother’s neighbor. She grew up in West Virginia and I was told that these were dug on her family farm. Inez had large plants on her sun porch and she used these on top of the soil for decoration. After I inherited them from Inez, I used them in my science class when we studied both fossils and coral. The starfish was also used in my class when Echinoderms were being studied.
My mom used to have a beach cottage and she used this old oar as wall decor there. Our family is the type that throws nothing away, so I’m sure that this oar once belonged to some family member.
To the right of the lantern is a shell encrusted with some mollusk that I picked up on Cure Beach in NC and a starfish that I purchased on NC’s Outer Banks.
The inspiration picture used green as an accent color with the moss around the candle and large plant in the background. I used blue as my color with the candle and my blue curtains in the background.
Pin It!
Please pin this post to remember for later!
Next on the tour is Julie from My Wee Abode. I’m looking forward to seeing Julie’s version of the lantern inspiration picture.
More Lantern Ideas to Enjoy
Click on the links below to visit each blogger who is sharing their version of the inspiration picture. I’m looking forward to seeing them all!
If you don’t see the links, click on the blue “Click Here to Enter” button. InLinkz can be wonky and sometimes the links show and sometimes they don’t!
Love it, my favorite things, blue and sea shells!
Thank you so much! I also love blue and sea shells. I’m hoping to decorate the rest of my living room with a coastal theme to enjoy for the rest of the summer.
Paula
I am in lantern love. What a darling vignette. My favorite touch is the can of delicious oysters! LOL I have been loving your IG photos. We were in Newport last week. I’m off to catch up on your posts.
Thank you, Laura! I have a few more oyster cans that I’m hoping to incorporate into my summer decor this week. Too bad that we weren’t in Newport at the same time. I would have loved to see you!
Paula
Paula, I am in love with your DIY lantern. I pinned it to make one for myself. I love the style and the Coastal spin you added to the candle. Very pretty.
Thank you, Terrie! It was fun to create this coastal vignette.
Paula
Paula,
I just love using shells to decorate with in the summer! That lantern you made is so very creative. It’s such a great idea! Just might have to make one!
Thank you, Christy! I’ve used the lantern for decorating in every season.
Paula
Your lantern vignette turned out beautifully and I love that you made your lantern. The shrimp can is magnificent too. You find the best stuff! Thanks so much for joining us.
Thank you, Cindy! I come up with woodworking ideas and my husband helps me to make them. I originally used two of the lanterns on a mantel for Christmas with Mason jars filled with fairy lights. I liked it so much that I kept the fairy lights going all winter. My mom had the shrimp can on display in her beach cottage. She bought the can at a relative’s auction along with a few oyster cans.
Paula
It’s beautiful Paula! Love the coastal colors 🙂
Thank you! It was fun to add some coastal decor to my home for summer.
Paula
I love that you made your pretty lantern, and of course, I LOVE your blue candle with the twine/starfish attached! Sorry it took me a while to visit… I was helping someone this morning with some summer plans! 😉 LOL! Pinned to my Coastal Decor board!
Yes, that someone took a bit of your time today! 🙂
Paula
I always enjoy seeing the items in your posts, Paula! They are so full of history and wonderful stories. Your lantern is super impressive, too! I can’t believe you made it! Everything looks so clean and lovely together. It’s been fun to be on this hop together!
Thank you, Chrissy! I really enjoy using all of my mostly vintage treasures seasonally. My husband helps me with woodworking project and we really enjoy completing them together. I came up with the lantern idea and he figured out how to make it. (Being married to an engineer has its perks! :)) I really enjoy Cindy’s Pinterest Challenge and especially enjoy visiting everyone and getting ideas.
Paula
You put together the coolest collection of coastal treasures, Paula! I love the blues with the soft green of the toolbox; wonderful textures going on here, especially with the cool old wood oar. What a fun summertime vignette!
When my mom sold her beach cottage, I ended up with a lot of the vintage decor that she used there. I enjoy decorating with it in the summer.
Paula
Hi Paula!
Your lantern is so pretty! I like how you styled it with a coastal theme. I love the vintage toolbox too! I find it so interesting that that coral was dug up from a farm in West Virginia! Hope to see you at Homestyle Gathering this week.
>>> Kim
Thank you, Kim! My grandmother lived in Giles County, VA which is very close to the WV line. Her vegetable garden was loaded with fossils. I loved to pick up rocks there and look for shell fossils in the rock. My aunt has a few huge fossils that were dug on the neighbor’s WV farm. She displays one on her front porch and the other on her fireplace hearth. They are both conversation starters.
I’ll definitely see you at Homestyle Gathering this week.
Paula
So so pretty and interesting as always! I love coastal decor, shells, and the interesting science behind them too. Your pretty lantern vignette looks beautiful with your other blue decor.
So happy to join you for this fun challenge. Happy summer!
Thank you, Amber! Now that I’ve done this vignette, I’m eager to do more coastal decorating in my living room for summer.
Paula
Paula, your lantern vignette is beautiful with all the family history and the petrified coral and shell. How wonderful that you were able to share these pieces with your classes! I love that you made your lantern and will check out how you put the two together. It’d be fun to make one!
Love your summer beach theme, warm and beautiful,
Hugs,
Barb 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful lantern with us at the Summer Fun party. Pinned
The coastal theme always makes me feel relaxed. It’s so fresh, and soft. Really beautiful, and the lantern is an excellent touch! I have chosen this as one of my features for this week’s Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make Party, which goes live Saturday at 5pm EST.
Thank you so much for featuring me this week!
Paula
Love the lantern and the beachy look!
Thank you! It’s a fun look for summer.
Paula
Oh so pretty. I often see lanterns in Charity shops and usually leave them there but you’ve made me think a lick of paint and some different accessories and they could look completely different.
Thank you for sharing with us at Handmade Monday 🙂
I like lanterns and would love to use more in my home. I will have to check out thrift shops near me to see if I can find a few.
Paula