DIY Wireless Basket Lanterns

These DIY WIRELESS basket lanterns were an instillation part of my recent Patio Makeover: Italian Inspired! We needed lights that were totally wireless, renter friendly and of course very stylish! These easy basket lanterns are made with just three easy (and inexpensive parts!).

Grab all the details for your own lanterns below! 

‘Serena & Lily’ Style Lanterns, on a Target Girl Budget!

These lights are SO simple to make. Made with a basket of your choice (mine were from World Market!), a battery operated puck light, (they even come with a remote!) and a macrame rope of choice (more on these below!), and a hook. 

They are SO affordable. We made these lights for my friends patio makeover mostly because we needed something wireless but we also saved a BUNCH of money doing so! An outdoor basket lantern from Serena and Lily can run you close to $500 (seriously!) but we put all three together for less than $150!

Get creative! I liked a look of (3) with a small, medium and large lantern but you can do whatever fits your space! If you have a larger space, try 5+ lights for a real statement piece in your outdoor area. 

I was inspired! What inspired this DIY was my friend Jackie’s macrame skills. She has a macrame shop on instagram. I asked her if she wanted to team up to make the rope for each light! You could also just use simple natural rope but I felt like this gave it such a nice touch. Feel free to slide into her DM’s if you would like something similar! 

Supplies:

• (3) Wicker Baskets (small, medium and large)- Only one of the baskets was an actual ‘lantern‘. The small and medium baskets were actually waste baskets!
• Battery Operated Puck Lights-  These easy battery operated puck lights are from Amazon. They are totally wireless and even come with a little remote. I love these for rental friendly projects. Perfect for inside an indoor sconce that you don’t want to hardwire as well. Also, SO affordable. 4 of them will run you just $20.
• Velcro Circle Stickers: Stick one end on the puck light and one end on the basket.
• A macrame rope or natural rope: This is used to tie each lantern together at the top and to measure how short / long you want the lantern to hang. Jackie helped us make these but you could also just keep them simple with the macrame rope.
• Wooden Beads: to knot off each light.
• Gold Loops: This is what each light hangs from.
• Eye Hook: Hanging them with a screw in eye hook was probably the easiest route, but you can hang them from wherever! 

How to make them:

Watch this video on how to make them below! & Read though for instructions!

1. Measure the distance between the ceiling and the top end of the basket. Prepare your strings or macrame strings in (3) various lengths. Each of ours we’re 6-12 inches between the various lengths. 
2. If needed, poke a small hole in the center of the basket. Be careful not to cut any of the strands. Weave your string through and knot off each end with a wooden bead.
3. Tie a metal gold loop to the top end of the strand and trim any remaining rope off. 
4. Prepare each puck light with batteries associated. Place one end of the velcro circle sticker onto the back of the puck light and place the other on the flattest surface area of the basket. 
5. Measure the space in the ceiling where the lights will be hung and screw in an eye hook for each basket. 
6. Hang each light and voila! Wireless lantern baskets wherever you want, no plug needed! 

Tips 

• Place a small piece on the end of the macrame rope before fishing through the basket. This will ease the process and keep the strands in tact. 
• I used 1-2 puck lights per light, depending on the size. 
• Place the velcro circle sticker on the smoothest part of the basket. These are industrial strength sticky but will have a longer life on the smoothest surface. 

Check out the full patio makeover project here!