How to Make DIY Tin Can Lanterns To Light Up Your Summer Table

It's almost summertime, which means it's time get outdoors! Enter DIY expert Tara Panasiuk, who has gained nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram under the handle @the_magnolia_mercantile for her creative home DIYs and styling tips (like this faux floral trick).

Here, Tara shows you how to DIY tin can lanterns that are not only adorable and simple, but also useful "to light up your summer nights," as she puts it.

"When hosting outside during the summer, I love to get creative with decorations while also making them functional," Tara says.

Here are her step-by-step instructions:

1. Take your paper and a writing utensil and outline it with a design.

2. To prep your cans for the next step, you're going to need rice and water. Pour the rice into the can and then add some water inside.

3. Pop the tin in the freezer, and after about two hours, the rice and water will be solid inside.

4. Then, you're going to take your paper with the design you made and lay that on top of your jar, and tape it in place.

5. Take some finish nails and tap them with a hammer right into the jar, following the design on the paper.

6. After hammering the nails into the jar, you're going to remove them all and peel back your paper, and your design will be complete.

7. Now, we need to defrost the can. Put it in your sink under some hot water and then once it defrosts, you can dump it out.

8. Take a towel, roll it up and stick it inside the can. This will make sure none of your paint gets inside.

9. Take the acrylic paint and go all over your can. This usually takes about two coats, and you can use any colors of your choice.

10. When your jars are all dry, you can remove the towel. Then, pop in battery operated candles inside and they're good to go.

Such a cute idea!