Use battery-operated LED lights, paint, and various craft and household supplies to decorate paper lanterns to hang outdoors from the top of a canopy by completing the following steps. The lanterns will provide you with plenty of visibility and will enhance your outdoor surroundings.

Materials

• newspaper
• craft paint (several colors)
• thin paintbrushes
• cup of water
• stencils
• glitter
• sponges
• scissors
• plastic dishes
• tissue paper
• glue
• cotton swabs
• pipe cleaners
• paper lanterns
• battery-operated LED lights (with clips)
• acrylic craft spray
• twine
• measuring tape
• clothespins

Assemble The Lanterns And Add Painted Designs

Place all of the materials that you would like to use to decorate the paper lanterns on a newspaper-covered surface. Assemble the paper lanterns by opening them and inserting a metal frame that came with your purchase in each one. Clip a battery-operated LED light to the center of each frame.

Use various colors of craft paint and a thin paintbrush to create designs on the exteriors. If you are not artistically-inclined, place stencils on the lanterns and trace them with a paintbrush. Sprinkle glitter on the wet paint to provide the lanterns with a shimmery effect.

Add Dimension With Sponge Shapes And Tissue Paper Flowers

If you would like to add some dimension to each lantern's surface, cut several shapes out of some sponges. Dip the shapes into trays of paint and press the sponge pieces firmly against the outside of each lantern. Wait for the paint to dry once you are satisfied with the designs. 

Crumple up small pieces of tissue paper to resemble flowers. Apply a small amount of glue to each one with a cotton swab before pressing them against the lanterns. Use pipe cleaner pieces to create stems for the tissue paper flowers. If you group the tissue paper pieces and pipe cleaners close to each other, the finished result will resemble a bouquet of flowers. Spray the lanterns with acrylic craft spray to preserve the appearance of the materials that were added. The spray will prevent the colors of paint or additional decorative materials from fading. 

Hang The Lanterns

Hang the lanterns from the canopy by cutting pieces of twine that are the same length. Loop one piece of twine through the top of the frame on each lantern. Tie the ends of  each piece of twine in a knot. Attach the knotted ends to the edge of the canopy with clothespins. Space the lanterns out evenly along the edge of the canopy. When you will be spending time outdoors at night, turn on the LED lights that are in the paper lanterns so that you can enjoy the soft glow that each one emits.

To find the supplies to get starts, visit stores like Koontz Hardware.