Take me to the Steps
Horned Mustachioed Halloween Tiki God
Horned Mustachioed Halloween Tiki God

Need some simple, crafty, inexpensive Halloween decorations? This may be for you.make_halloweenbadgeV2 (1)

I got the basic idea for this lantern from this site, but I’ve substituted LED tea lights for the real ones for safety and convenience.

You can make one and decorate your desk, or make a bunch and decorate all your windows. Or make a string of them and hang them in a chain. It’s an easy project to do with kids. I did this with my son’s Cub Scout den and they had a great time customizing their own tikis.

These tikis also make great alternatives to pumpkin jack-o’-lanterns, if you can’t get pumpkins or don’t want the mess of making one.

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Project Steps

Squash the Tiki

Squash the toilet paper roll flat so you can work with it.

Mark the Tiki

Use a pencil to mark where you will cut.

  • Cut 1: For the chin
  • Cut 2 & 3: For the mouth
  • Cut 4: For the nose
  • Cut 5: For the eyes
  • Cut 6: For the waist

Save those cut out pieces. They are good for adding horns and other fun customizations to your tiki.

Assemble the Tiki

This is a good time to erase the pencil lines. You can also add color with markers at this point if you like. It’s easier when the tiki is flat.

Use transparent tape to attach the tea light. Wrap the waist of the tiki around the tea light, but leave a little bit of the light sticking out the bottom of the toilet paper roll, to make it easier to attach.

Test the Tiki

Ready to go. Test out your tiki lantern.

Customize the Tiki

Now you can have some fun customizing your tiki.

Use some of the cut-off pieces from the toilet paper roll to make horns, a mustache, or eyebrows.

Make a bunch of tikis, poke two holes near the top of each and string them together for a chain of tiki lanterns.