How to Make a Lantern out of Paper
Paper lanterns are a pretty, inexpensive and colorful way to decorate. Kids enjoy transforming a plain piece of construction paper into something that they fashioned themselves. After they learn this simple process, they can indulge a sense of creativity by making more of them, coloring them before they make any cuts or by stringing them together with yarn when the glue has set. Paper lanterns are fun to make!
Instructions
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The short sides. Lay a piece of construction paper in front of you with the long sides on the top and bottom and the short sides on either side. Cut a 1-inch strip from the right side. Set it aside.
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Don't cut too far! Grab the bottom edge of the paper and fold it up in half the long way. With scissors, slice the paper 2 inches from the left side perpendicular to the fold. Cut to 2 inches from the top edges of the paper. Do not cut all the way through! Make slices every inch from the last, all the way down the length of the fold until you get to 2 inches from the right side. Your paper will look sort of like a comb.
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Folded paper. Unfold the paper and lay it flat with the crease facing up---the long edges on the top and bottom and the short edges on the sides. Mark the right edge of the paper with a series of half inch Xs going from top to bottom.
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Use your pencil. Grab the edge of the paper that is closest to you and flip the paper over upside down away from you so that the fold is now down, the paper is flat, and you can't see the Xs anymore. (Peek under the lower-right corner to see if the X is there. That way you know you've done it right! Put the corner back down.)
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Glue. Mark another column of Xs on your left side of the paper. Then put a generous line of glue about an inch wide on that left side of the paper, going all the way from the top to the bottom, covering the Xs. Pick up the right side of the paper so that you can see the unglued Xs. Roll from that side so that the unglued Xs will meet on top of the glued Xs. Line up the top and bottom edges. Be careful not to make any creases in the paper. Slip your hand inside and press firmly to set the glue.
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Basket. Stand the lantern up after the glue has dried. Pick up the strip of paper that you had cut off and set aside in the beginning. Put a one inch swath of glue on one end. Place that inside of the top of the lantern and press firmly to glue. (This is the lantern's handle.) Bend the handle in an arch over the top of the lantern (like a basket handle) and put glue on the outer bottom edge of it, pressing that onto the inner top of the other side of the lantern. Wait for it to dry and hang it up.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Stack of Die Cut Papers image by Allen Stoner from Fotolia.com paper image by AGphotographer from Fotolia.com scissors image by Holtea Silviu from Fotolia.com Origami paper planes on clouds sky background image by Avesun from Fotolia.com pencil image by vanillla from Fotolia.com glue bottle image by Bruce MacQueen from Fotolia.com basket image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
