Minecraft Lantern Papercraft – Easy Cardstock Build

Minecraft has always been a game about creativity — turning simple blocks into endless possibilities. One of my many favorite items from the game is the lantern, not only because it lights the way in dark places and prevent mob spawning in dark areas, but because it feels like a symbol of warmth and safety. I wanted to bring it into real life, but with simple, everyday materials. That’s how I decided to make a Minecraft lantern from cardstock.

This project is special to me because it isn't just a static piece, it’s a piece of the game I can hold, display, and even light up with a small LED light block. It’s my way of blending the digital world I enjoy with hands-on crafting. And the best part? You can make one too, with just some cardstock, scissors, glue, and a little patience.

In this Instructable, I’ll walk you through how I designed, folded, and assembled each part of the lantern: from the glowing core to the top cap and handle. By the end, you’ll have your very own glowing Minecraft lantern to decorate your space and show off your crafting skills.

This contains the list of tools and materials I used in making this project:

1. Cardstock (210gsm) and a means of printing

1. Corrugated cardboard

1. Scissors

1. Box cutter

1. Paper glue (fast drying)

1. Ruler

1. 1W LED

1. 9V battery

1. Paper tape

And steady hands.

The first thing I had to do was to conceptualize the design process of the lantern. Since it is going to be a papercraft, I had to reason in flat shapes that would agree in measurements and symmetry when folded into 3D.

I used Inkscape for this, a free vector design software with a really good collection of tools, to lay out each part of the lantern as flat shapes (or ‘nets’).

I calculated the dimensions to ensure it is proportional to actual digital Minecraft lantern and also made use of the same colour palatte as the original as can be seen here https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Lantern on it's wiki page.

To keep things organized, I placed each section of the lantern on a separate page:

1. Page 1: Glow core frame
2. Page 2: Glow core panels (or insets)
3. Page 3: Short rim bars
4. Page 4: Long rim bars
5. Page 5: Corner posts
6. Page 6: Top cap & handle

This made it easy to print the templates later and ensured that no part was too cramped or confusing. Each shape was drawn with clean fold lines (the dashed lines), tabs for gluing (marked with asterisks), and pixelated style boxy painting with proportions that would come together into a blocky, Minecraft-style lantern once assembled.

Designing in Inkscape gave me the flexibility to adjust measurements, check symmetry, and prepare the template for cardstock printing. Once the design was complete, I exported and combined all six pages into a single file which I have attached to this step, ready to print, cut and fold.

Once the template design was complete, I printed all six pages from the file attached to the step above onto sturdy cardstock paper (210gsm). Cardstock is important because it’s thick enough to hold its shape once folded, but still easy to cut, fold and glue. Take note that the second page (glow core panels) should be printed on a normal A4 paper to allow transluscence of the LED light.

After printing, I carefully cut out each shape with scissors (a craft knife guided with a ruler along the cut lines can also be used for cleaner edges). It’s important to cut along the outer solid lines and leave the glue tabs intact, the dashed lines again are for folding and shouldn't be cut, they should instead be scored with the blunt side of a box cutter guided by a ruler to make folding easier.

At this stage, I had all the individual parts of the lantern ready: the glow core frame, the panels, rims, corner posts, top cap and handle. Laying them out on a surface helped me double-check that I had every piece before moving on to folding and assembly.

To stay organized, I grouped the pieces according to their function: core frame, core panels together, rims together, and so on. This made it much easier to find the right parts during the build and reduced mistakes while gluing. If you’re attempting this project, I recommend doing the same so as to avoid mix up.

The first piece I worked on was the glow core, since it’s the centerpiece of the lantern. This section is made up of a four-walled frame, each side featuring a rectangular window cut out of it using a box cutter or craft knife.

I began by folding along the dashed lines to shape the frame into a square column. Then, before gluing it together, I attached the brightly colored panels to the outside of each window. I chose warm yellow and orange colour blocks to capture the look of the glowing lantern from Minecraft. The panels also have a top and bottom border white bar which are the surface for glueing the top and bottom rims to the core.

Once the colored panels were in place, I glued the tabs of the frame together, forming a sturdy box with brightly coloured sides. This step really brings the lantern to life, as soon as the windows are filled with the panels, the piece instantly starts looking like the familiar Minecraft lantern.

With the glow core completed, the next step was to build the lantern’s outer frame. This frame is made up of two rims (one at the top and one at the bottom) and four corner posts.

Each rim is composed of four separate pieces: two short bars (page 3) and two long bars (page 4). I folded and glued these into place so that they formed a rectangular border around the glow core, with the longer bars positioned opposite each other and the shorter bars filling the remaining sides. I repeated this process for the upper rim after attaching the four corner posts to the core by glueing then each on the corner of the lower rim with their inner edge lying along the edges of the glow core, positioned vertically at each corner linking the upper and lower rims together.

The posts give the lantern its rigid structure and also add the blocky, pixel-like detail that makes it instantly recognizable as a Minecraft lantern.

After this step, the glow core felt securely framed, and the lantern started to look like a proper 3D object rather than just folded paper.

The next part of the build is the top cap and handle. The top cap is a simple square piece with four glue tabs each on a side. I folded the tabs inward and glued them to the inside edges at the very top of the glow core. This gave the lantern a neat, closed top while also strengthening the structure.

For the handle, I folded the cut template alond the dashed lines into a ‘C’-shaped block with each folded segment having a glue tab on each side which were then used to glue to piece into a solid block. Each end of the handle was glued face-down onto the top cap, aligned along its diagonal — just like the hanging handle on the original Minecraft lantern.

Once the handle was attached, the lantern immediately feels like something that could be picked up or hung, perfectly capturing the look of the in-game design.

To complete the build, I made a base plate from corrugated cardboard, cut to a 65 × 65 mm square so it fit snugly into the bottom of the glow core. A rectangular tab was attached on one side to act as a hinge, while a small triangular tab on the opposite edge stopped the plate from sliding too far inside and also provided a grip for opening.

For the light block, I taped a 9V battery to the center of the base plate and created a small tape sleeve around its terminals. A 1W LED could then slot into the sleeve, making contact with the battery terminals and its terminals when inserted the right way. This simple mechanism powered the lantern, illuminating the glow core just like the original Minecraft version.

To turn the light off, the LED can simply be shaken loose from the tape sleeve, and reinserted again to switch it back on.

And just like that, the lantern is complete, glowing softly, blocky in form, and unmistakably Minecraft. What began as a few flat sheets of cardstock has become a fully realized 3D object: a mix of digital nostalgia and hands-on craft.

For me, this project was never only about building a lantern. It was about taking something familiar from a virtual world and giving it a tangible presence, a reminder that creativity doesn’t stop at the screen. With nothing more than cardstock, glue, and a bit of imagination, I was able to bring the warmth and charm of Minecraft into real life.

I hope this inspires you to try it yourself, whether as a fun papercraft challenge, a room decoration, or even as part of a bigger set of Minecraft builds. Once the LED lights up the glow core, you’ll see exactly why this lantern means so much: it’s a small block of light, built by hand, that feels both playful and meaningful at the same time.